Following the Chinese Civil War and the victory of Mao Zedong's Communist forces over the Kuomintang forces of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to Taiwan, Mao declared the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Mao's first goal was a total overhaul of the land ownership system, and extensive land reforms. China's old system of gentrylandlord ownership of farmland and tenant peasants was replaced with a distribution system in favor of poor/landless peasants which significantly reduced economic inequality. Over a million landlords were executed;[1] in Zhangzhuangcun, in the more thoroughly reformed north of the country, most "landlords" and "rich peasants" had lost all their land and often their lives or had fled. All formerly landless workers had received land, which eliminated this category altogether, as a result, "middling peasants," who now accounted for 90 percent of the village population, owned 90.8 percent of the land.[2] Mao laid heavy theoretical emphasis on class struggle, and in 1953 began various campaigns to persecute former landlords and merchants, including the execution of more powerful landlords. Drug trafficking in the country as well as foreign investment were largely wiped out.

Mao believed that socialism would eventually triumph over all other ideologies, and following the First Five-Year Plan based on a Soviet-style centrally controlled economy, Mao took on the ambitious project of the Great Leap Forward in 1958, beginning an unprecedented process of collectivization in rural areas. Mao urged the use of communally organized iron smelters to increase steel production, pulling workers off of agricultural labor to the point that large amounts of crops rotted unharvested. Mao decided to continue to advocate these smelters despite a visit to a factory steel mill which proved to him that high quality steel could only be produced in a factory, he thought that ending the program would dampen peasant enthusiasm for his political mobilization, the Great Leap Forward.

The implementation of Maoist thought in China may have been responsible for over 40–70 million deaths including famine during peacetime[3], with the Great Leap Forward, Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957–1958,[4] and the Cultural Revolution. Millions died from both executions and forced labour, because of Mao's land reforms during the Great Leap Forward, which resulted in massive famines, thirty million perished between 1958 and 1961. By the end of 1961 the birth rate was nearly cut in half because of malnutrition.[5] Active campaigns, including party purges and "reeducation" resulted in the imprisonment or execution of those deemed to hold views contrary to Maoist ideals.[6] Mao's failure with the Leap reduced his power in government, whose administrative duties fell to Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping.

To impose socialist orthodoxy and rid China of "old elements", and at the same time serving certain political goals, Mao began the Cultural Revolution in May 1966, the campaign was far reaching into all aspects of Chinese life. Red Guards terrorized the streets as many ordinary citizens were deemed counter-revolutionaries. Education and public transportation came to a nearly complete halt. Daily life involved shouting slogans and reciting Mao quotations. Many prominent political leaders, including Liu and Deng, were purged and deemed "capitalist-roaders", the campaign would not come to a complete end until the death of Mao in 1976.

Supporters of the Maoist Era claim that under Mao, China's unity and sovereignty was assured for the first time in a century, and there was development of infrastructure, industry, healthcare, education (only 20% of the population could read in 1949, compared to 65.5% thirty years later)[7], which raised standard of living for the average Chinese. They also claimed that campaigns such as the Great Leap Forward – an example of the concept New Democracy – and the Cultural Revolution were essential in jumpstarting China's development and "purifying" its culture. Others[8] claim that though the consequences of both these campaigns were economically and humanly disastrous, they left behind a "clean slate" on which later economic progress could be built. Supporters often also doubt statistics or accounts given for death tolls or other damages incurred by Mao's campaigns, attributing the high death toll to natural disasters, famine, or other consequences of political chaos during the rule of Chiang Kai-shek.

Mao Zedong's death was followed by a power struggle between the Gang of Four, Hua Guofeng, and eventually Deng Xiaoping. Deng would maneuver himself to the top of China's leadership by 1980, at the Third Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee, Deng embarked China on the road to Economic Reforms and Openness (改革开放 Gaige Kaifang), policies that began with the de-collectivization of the countryside, followed with industrial reforms aimed at decentralizing government controls in the industrial sector. A major document presented at the September 1979 Fourth Plenum, gave a "preliminary assessment" of the entire 30-year period of Communist rule, at the plenum, party Vice Chairman Ye Jianying declared the Cultural Revolution "an appalling catastrophe" and "the most severe setback to [the] socialist cause since [1949]."[9] The Chinese government's condemnation of the Cultural Revolution culminated in the Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China, adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This stated that "Comrade Mao Zedong was a great Marxist and a great proletarian revolutionary, strategist and theorist, it is true that he made gross mistakes during the "cultural revolution", but, if we judge his activities as a whole, his contributions to the Chinese revolution far outweigh his mistakes. His merits are primary and his errors secondary."[10]

On the subject of Mao's legacy Deng coined the famous phrase "7 parts good, 3 parts bad" and avoided denouncing Mao altogether. Deng championed the idea of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), areas where foreign investment would be allowed to pour in without strict government restraint and regulations, running on a basically capitalist system. Deng laid emphasis on light industry as a stepping stone to the development of heavy industries.

Supporters of the economic reforms point to the rapid development of the consumer and export sectors of the economy, the creation of an urban middle class that now constitutes 15% of the population, higher living standards (which is shown via dramatic increases in GDP per capita, consumer spending, life expectancy, literacy rate, and total grain output) and a much wider range of personal rights and freedoms for average Chinese as evidence of the success of the reforms.

Although standards of living improved significantly in the 1980s, Deng's reforms were not without criticism. Hard-liners asserted that Deng opened China once again to various social evils, and an overall increase in materialistic thinking, while liberals attacked Deng's unrelenting stance on political reform. Liberal forces began gathering in different forms to protest against the Party's authoritarian leadership; in 1989, the death of Hu Yaobang, a liberal figure, triggered weeks of spontaneous protests in the Tiananmen Square. The government imposed martial law and sent in tanks and soldiers to suppress the demonstrations. Western countries and multilateral organizations briefly suspended their formal ties with China's government under Premier Li Peng's leadership, which was directly responsible for the military curfew and bloody crackdown.

Critics of the economic reforms, both in China and abroad, claim that the reforms have caused wealth disparity, environmental pollution, rampant corruption, widespread unemployment associated with layoffs at inefficient state-owned enterprises, and has introduced often unwelcome cultural influences. Consequently, they believe that China's culture has been corrupted, the poor have been reduced to a hopeless abject underclass, and that the social stability is threatened, they are also of the opinion that various political reforms, such as moves towards popular elections, have been unfairly nipped in the bud. Regardless of either view, today, the public perception of Mao has improved at least superficially; images of Mao and Mao related objects have become fashionable, commonly used on novelty items and even as talismans. However, the path of modernization and market-oriented economic reforms that China started since the early 1980s appears to be fundamentally unchallenged. Even critics of China's market reforms do not wish to see a backtrack of these two decades of reforms, but rather propose corrective measures to offset some of the social issues caused by existing reforms.

In 1979, the Chinese government instituted a one child policy to try to control its rapidly increasing population, the controversial policy resulted in a dramatic decrease in child poverty. The law currently applies to about a third of mainland Chinese, with plans in place to ease it to a two-child limit.[11][12]

The achievements of Lee Kuan Yew to create an economic superpower in Singapore had a profound effect on the Communist leadership in China, they made a major effort, especially under Deng Xiaoping, to emulate his policies of economic growth, entrepreneurship, and subtle suppression of dissent. Over 22,000 Chinese officials were sent to Singapore to study its methods.[13]

After the events at Tiananmen, Deng Xiaoping retired from public view. While keeping ultimate control, power was passed onto the third generation of leadership led by Jiang Zemin, who was hailed as its "core". Economic growth, despite foreign trade embargoes, returned to a fast pace by the mid-1990s. Jiang's macroeconomic reforms furthered Deng's vision for "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics", at the same time, Jiang's period saw a continued rise in social corruption in all areas of life. Unemployment skyrocketed as unprofitable SOE's were closed to make way for more competitive ventures, internally and abroad, the ill-equipped social welfare system was put on a serious test. Jiang also laid heavy emphasis on scientific and technological advancement in areas such as space exploration. To sustain vast human consumption, the Three Gorges Dam was built, attracting supporters and widespread criticism. Environmental pollution became a very serious problem as Beijing was frequently hit by sandstorms as a result of desertification.

The 1990s saw two foreign colonies returned to China, Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, and Macau from Portugal in 1999. Hong Kong and Macau mostly continued their own governance, retaining independence in their economic, social, and judicial systems.

Inside the US, the Cox Report stated that China had been stealing various top US military secrets.

In 2001, a US surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over international waters near Hainan, inciting further outrage with the Chinese public, already dissatisfied with the US.

On the political agenda, China was once again put on the spotlight for the banning of public Falun Gong activity in 1999. Silent protesters from the spiritual movement sat outside of Zhongnanhai, asking for dialogue with China's leaders. Jiang saw it as threatening to the political situation and outlawed the group altogether, while using the mass media to denounce it as an evil cult.

Conversely, Premier Zhu Rongji's economic policies held China's economy strong during the Asian Financial Crisis. Economic growth averaged at 8% annually, pushed back by the 1998 Yangtze River Floods, after a decade of talks, China was finally admitted into the World Trade Organization. Standards of living improved significantly, although a wide urban-rural wealth gap was opened, as China saw the reappearance of the middle class. Wealth disparity between East and the Western hinterlands continued to widen by the day, prompting government programs to "develop the West", taking on such ambitious projects such as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the burden of education was greater than ever. Rampant corruption continued despite Premier Zhu's anti-corruption campaign that executed many officials.

The first major issue faced by China in the 21st century as a new generation of leaders led by Hu Jintao after assuming power was the public health crisis involving SARS, an illness that seemed to have originated out of Guangdong province. China's position in the war on terror drew the country closer diplomatically to the United States, the economy continues to grow in double-digit numbers as the development of rural areas became the major focus of government policy. In gradual steps to consolidate his power, Hu Jintao removed Shanghai Party Chief Chen Liangyu and other potential political opponents amidst the fight against corruption, and the ongoing struggle against once powerful Shanghai clique. The assertion of the Scientific Perspective to create a Socialist Harmonious Society is the focus of the Hu-Wen administration, as some Jiang-era excesses are slowly reversed; in the years after Hu's rise to power, respect of basic human rights in China continue to be a source of concern.

The political status and future of Taiwan remain uncertain, but steps have been taken to improving relations between the Communist Party and several of Taiwan's parties that hold a less antagonistic view towards China, notably former rival Kuomintang.

The continued economic growth of the country as well as its sporting power status gained China the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. However, this also put Hu's administration under intense spotlight. While the 2008 Olympic was commonly understood to be a come-out party for People's Republic of China, in light of the March 2008 Tibet protests, the government received heavy scrutiny, the Olympic torch was met with protest en route. Within the country these reactions were met with a fervent wave of nationalism with accusations of Western bias against China.

In May 2008, a massive earthquake registering 8.0 on the Richter scale hit Sichuan province of China, exacting a death toll officially estimated at approximately 70,000. The government responded more quickly than it did with previous events, and has allowed foreign media access to the regions that were hit the hardest, the adequacy of the government response was generally praised, and the relief efforts extended to every corner of Chinese life. In May and June 2008, heavy rains in southern China caused severe flooding in the provinces of Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong, with dozens of fatalities and over a million people forced to evacuate. As of 2009 China has increased its internet monitoring capabilities by adding hundreds of new monitoring stations.

^The Great Leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century , Walter Scheidel, 2017

^Fenby, J (2008). Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present. Ecco Press. p. 351. ISBN0-06-166116-3. Mao's responsibility for the extinction of anywhere from 40 to 70 million lives brands him as a mass killer greater than Hitler or Stalin, his indifference to the suffering and the loss of humans breathtaking

^MacFarquhar, Roderick. 1974. The origins of the Cultural Revolution. London: Published for Royal Institute of International Affairs, East Asian Institute of Columbia University and Research Institute on Communist Affairs of Columbia by Oxford University Press. p 4.

1.
Chinese Communist Revolution
–
The Chinese Communist Revolution or The Second Chinese Civil War started from 1945, after the end of Second Sino-Japanese War, and it is the second part of the Chinese Civil War. It was the culmination of the Chinese Communist Partys drive to power since its founding in 1921, in the official media, this period is known as the War of Liberation. Chinas twentieth-century revolution is linked with the history of the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP is also tied up with the dreams of national revival that had gripped the Chinese elites watching their Countrys decline through the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century. The party was founded in 1921 while searching for a solution to Chinas prolonged crisis, after the entrance of the United States into the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two sides maintained the formal alliance, but fought each other on several occasions. In 1945, Stalins troops invaded from Soviet Outer Manchuria as part of its declaration of war against Japan, after the Japanese surrender in August, the Americans attempted to broker a coalition government in China, but an all-out war between these two forces soon resumed. The Nationalists had an advantage in troops and weapons, controlled a much larger territory and population, and enjoyed world support. The communists were well established in the north and northwest, during the war they had built up networks of local governments and village party leaders who appealed to patriotism rather than class struggle. The best trained Nationalist troops had been lost in battles against the better equipped Japanese army and in Burma. Chiang determined to confront the PLA in Manchuria and committed his troops in one battle in the autumn of 1948. The strength of the communist side was 1.27 million regulars and 2.68 million militias in Sept.1945, the strength of Nationalist troops in July 1946 was 4.3 million, of which 2.2 million were well-trained and ready for country-wide mobile combat. The loss of the battle and of important troops was the turning point. Mao then called for a return to radical land policies which built support among activists, under generals such as General Lin Biao the PLA had grown beyond the strategy of peoples war outlined by Mao and engaged in full-scale conventional war. The Huaihai Campaign of late 1948 and early 1949 in which roughly a million soldiers fought on either side, the Nationalist government also sought to enlist popular support through internal reforms and suppress dissent. The effort failed because of rampant corruption and political and economic chaos, political repression further alienated liberal and urban elites who had been skeptical of communism. Massive hyperinflation destroyed the middle class which had been the support of the government. By late 1948 the Nationalist position was extremely bleak, in January 1949, Peking, then known as Beiping, surrendered to the PLA without a fight. Between April and November, major cities passed from Nationalist to Communist control with minimal resistance, mainland China for half a century had boasted 8.07 million in combat successes over Nationalist Army. The number includes killing, injuring, taking prisoners and accepting defecting troops, on October 1,1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China

2.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S

3.
Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries
–
It began on March 1950 when the Chinese Communist central committee issued the Directive on elimination of bandits and establishment of revolutionary new order. The campaign was implemented as a response to the rebellions that were commonplace in the years of the Peoples Republic of China. Those targeted during the campaign in were thereafter labeled as counterrevolutionaries, significant numbers of counterrevolutionaries were arrested and executed and even more sentenced to labor reform. Professor Yang Kuisong noted the strong resistance against the Communist government during the days of the Peoples Republic of China. The government alleged that in Guangxi Province alone, counter-revolutionaries burned and destroyed more than 25,000 buildings, in March 1950, the CCP Central Committee issued Counter-Revolutionary Activities and instructions for Repression. Starting from December 1950, the suppression of the counter-revolutionary movement was carried out. The official focus of the campaign were bandits, as well as counter-revolutionary underground bands, as a result, numerous former KMT members were forced to register and identify themselves, and were promised leniency as a result. However, this initiative was criticized for being too lenient by many government officials, in particular, Peng Zhen argued that KMT agents took advantage of the policy to stage further attacks. That has swollen the enemy’s arrogance and alienated the people, Yang noted that while Mao did not initially respond to the calls, his attitude changed following the outbreak of the Korean War. Yang noted that the timeframe of the Korean War and the reform campaign provided a short opportunity to initiate the campaign successfully. Maos decision to initiate the campaign was highlighted in a conversation with Luo Ruiqing, then Minister of public security, probably this is our only operation for suppressing counterrevolutionaries. This will not happen again in the future and therefore is a golden opportunity, full advantage of this asset must be taken. The purpose is not just to kill several counterrevolutionaries, more importantly, this is for mass mobilization. Without the loud gongs and drums of resisting the United States and assisting Korea, here a landlord is killed and there another is beaten, there would be fuss everywhere. The Double-ten Directive stressed on the effects of the campaign. However, following the implementation of the campaign, Liu Shaoqi became concerned that the campaign could become too excessive and he stated, If every execution is to appear on the newspapers, then there would be too much of the news on execution. Yang noted that initially, Mao agreed with Lius suggestions, criticizing the tactless and indiscriminate purges in various provinces, then our Party may fall into a difficult situation. As a result, many provinces ceased the executions in accordance, however, by January 1951, while the Chinese won major battles in the Korean War and public support at home began to rise, Mao became dissatisfied by the progress of the campaign

4.
Three-anti and Five-anti Campaigns
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The result turned into a series of campaigns that consolidated Maos power base by targeting political opponents and capitalists, especially wealthy capitalists. The Three-anti Campaign was launched in Manchuria at the end of 1951 and it was aimed at members within the Communist Party of China, former Kuomintang members and bureaucratic officials who were not party members. The 3 antis imposed were, corruption （反对贪污） waste （反对浪费） bureaucracy （反对官僚主义） The Five-anti campaign was launched in January 1952 and it was designed to target the capitalist class. The Communist party set a very vague guideline of who could be charged, deng Xiaoping warned the people not to be corrupted by capitalist thinking. The 5 antis imposed were, bribery （反对行贿） theft of state property （反对盗骗国家财产） tax evasion （反对偷税漏税） cheating on government contracts （反对偷工减料） stealing state economic information （反对盗窃国家经济情报）, an estimated 20,000 cadres and 6,000 trained workers began spying on the business affairs of fellow citizens. The media encouraged compliance with the government policies, up to 15,000 trained propagandists were working in Shanghai by late 1951. By February 1952, parades of anti-Capitalist activists went door-to-door to visit business leaders, Shanghai wards were set up to receive criticism letters from any employees. As many as 18,000 letters came in the first week of February 1952, cadres of party members would join in on the attack. Some big companies would voluntarily make 1,000 confessions a day to try to protect themselves from the government, a prime example was the Dahua copper company owner who originally over-confessed by claiming to have illegally obtained 50 million yuan. His employees continued to criticize the owner for greater crime until he reconfessed to having obtained 2 billion yuan, the victims of the antis campaigns were mostly terrified and humiliated, some were killed, and others were sent to labor camps around China. Mao evaluated the situation, saying that We must probably execute 10,000 to several tens of thousands of embezzlers nationwide before we can solve the problem. The Three-Antis Campaign came with harsher punishments, some involving torture, there were hundreds of thousands of suicides that were a direct result of these campaigns. Eventually the Communist Party revealed that it would no longer protect private business, the Korean War initially provided opportunities in Northern China, giving rise to a new class of capitalists, many of whom would be prosecuted under the Marxist policies of the Communist Party. Many of these people eventually borrowed money from the government to pay off government fines, a series of anti campaigns were launched by the Chinese government in the following years. List of campaigns of the Communist Party of China Gu Zhun Economy of China

5.
Hundred Flowers Campaign
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The movement was in part a response to the demoralization of intellectuals, who felt estranged from The Communist Party. After this brief period of liberalization, Mao abruptly changed course, the crackdown continued through 1957 as an Anti-Rightist Campaign against those who were critical of the regime and its ideology. Those targeted were publicly criticized and condemned to labor camps. The ideological crackdown following the campaigns failure re-imposed Maoist orthodoxy in public expression, in the summer Mao found the idea interesting, and had superseded Zhou Enlai to take control. The idea was to have intellectuals discuss the problems in order to promote new forms of arts. Mao, however, also saw this as the chance to promote socialism, criticism of the bureaucracy is pushing the government towards the better. The speech, published on February 27,1957, encouraged people to vent their criticisms as long as they were rather than hateful. The name of the movement originated in a poem, simplified Chinese, 百花齐放，百家争鸣, traditional Chinese, 百花齊放，百家爭鳴, pinyin, bǎihuā qífàng, bǎijiā zhēngmíng. Mao had used this to signal what he had wanted from the intellectuals of the country, for different and he alluded to the Warring States era when numerous schools of thought competed for ideological, not military, supremacy. Historically, Confucianism and Taoism had gained prominence, and socialism would now stand to its test, the campaign publicly began in late 1956. In the opening stage of the movement, issues discussed were relatively minor, the Central Government did not receive much criticism, although there was a significant rise in letters of conservative advice. Premier Zhou Enlai received some of these letters, and once again realized that, although the campaign had gained notable publicity, Zhou approached Mao about the situation, stating that more encouragement was needed from the central bureaucracy to lead the intellectuals into further discussion. By the spring of 1957, Mao had announced that criticism was preferred and had begun to mount pressure on those who did not turn in healthy criticism on policy to the Central Government, the reception with intellectuals was immediate, and they began voicing concerns without any taboo. In the period from May 1 to June 7,1957, millions of letters were pouring into the Premiers Office, People spoke out by putting up posters around campuses, rallying in the streets, holding meetings for CPC members, and publishing magazine articles. For example, students at Peking University created a Democratic Wall on which they criticized the CPC with posters and letters, in Maos opinion, many of these letters had violated the healthy criticism level and had reached a harmful and uncontrollable level. These letters had advised the government to govern democratically and open up, premier Zhou Enlai had initially explored and moderately took in some of these criticisms. Mao, however, seems to have refused to do so himself, the campaign raised an old apprehension in government that those who criticize harmfully become a threat to the legitimacy of their leadership. By early July 1957, the campaign had become too difficult to control, in July 1957, Mao ordered a halt to the campaign

6.
Anti-Rightist Movement
–
The campaigns were instigated by Chairman Mao Zedong and saw the political persecution of an estimated 550,000 people. Going perhaps as far back as the Long March there had been resentment against rightists inside the CPC, for example, the first wave of attacks began immediately following the end of the Hundred Flowers movement in July 1957. By the end of the year,300,000 people had been labeled as rightists, future premier Zhu Rongji, then working in the State Planning Commission, was purged in 1958. Most of the accused were intellectuals, the penalties included informal criticism, hard labor, and in some cases, execution. One main target was the independent legal system, legal professionals were transferred to other jobs, judicial power was exercised instead by political cadres and the police. The second part of the campaign followed the Lushan Conference of July 2 – August 16,1959, the meeting condemned General Peng Dehuai, who had criticised the Great Leap Forward. After Maos death, many of the convictions were revoked in 1979 and this came despite the fact that Deng Xiaoping had been one of the most enthusiastic prosecutors of the movement during the First Wave of 1957. Discussion of the Anti-Rightist Movement is currently subject to heavy censorship within China. In 2007, a ban was placed on the book The Past Is Not Like Smoke, by Zhang Yihe, whose father Zhang Bojun was persecuted as a rightist, websites were reportedly notified by authorities that the topic of the movement was extremely sensitive

7.
Great Leap Forward
–
The Great Leap Forward of the Peoples Republic of China was an economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China from 1958 to 1962. The campaign was led by Chairman Mao Zedong and aimed to transform the country from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization. However, it is considered to have caused the Great Chinese Famine. Chief changes in the lives of rural Chinese included the introduction of mandatory agricultural collectivization. Private farming was prohibited, and those engaged in it were persecuted and labeled counter-revolutionaries, restrictions on rural people were enforced through public struggle sessions and social pressure, although people also experienced forced labor. Rural industrialization, officially a priority of the campaign, saw its development, aborted by the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward. It is widely regarded by historians that The Great Leap resulted in tens of millions of deaths, a lower-end estimate is 18 million, while extensive research by Yu Xiguang suggests the death toll from the movement is closer to 55 million. Historian Frank Dikötter asserts that coercion, terror, and systematic violence were the foundation of the Great Leap Forward, the years of the Great Leap Forward saw economic regression, with 1958 through 1962 being the only period between 1953 and 1976 in which Chinas economy shrank. Political economist Dwight Perkins argues, enormous amounts of investment produced only modest increases in production or none at all, in short, the Great Leap was a very expensive disaster. In subsequent conferences in March 1960 and May 1962, the effects of the Great Leap Forward were studied by the CPC. Moderate Party members like President Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping rose to power, in October 1949 after the defeat of the Kuomintang, the Chinese Communist Party proclaimed the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China. Immediately, landlords and wealthier peasants had their land holdings forcibly redistributed to poorer peasants, in the agricultural sectors, crops deemed by the Party to be full of evil, such as opium, were destroyed and replaced with crops such as rice. Within the Party, there was debate about redistribution. This would allow the state to buy at a low price and sell much higher, before 1949, peasants had farmed their own small pockets of land, and observed traditional practices—festivals, banquets, and paying homage to ancestors. It was realized that Maos policy of using a monopoly on agriculture to finance industrialization would be unpopular with the peasants. Therefore, it was proposed that the peasants should be brought under Party control by the establishment of agricultural collectives which would facilitate the sharing of tools. By 1958 private ownership was abolished and households all over China were forced into state-operated communes. Mao insisted that the communes must produce more grain for the cities, together, taxation and compulsory purchases accounted for 30 percent of the harvest by 1957, leaving very little surplus

8.
Cultural Revolution
–
The Cultural Revolution, formally the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement that took place in China from 1966 until 1976. The Revolution marked the return of Mao Zedong to a position of power after the Great Leap Forward, the movement paralyzed China politically and negatively affected the countrys economy and society to a significant degree. The Revolution was launched in May 1966, after Mao alleged that bourgeois elements had infiltrated the government and society at large, to eliminate his rivals within the Communist Party of China, Mao insisted that these revisionists be removed through violent class struggle. Chinas youth responded to Maos appeal by forming Red Guard groups around the country, the movement spread into the military, urban workers, and the Communist Party leadership itself. It resulted in factional struggles in all walks of life. In the top leadership, it led to a purge of senior officials, most notably Liu Shaoqi. During the same period Maos personality cult grew to immense proportions, a large segment of the population was forcibly displaced, most notably the transfer of urban youth to rural regions during the Down to the Countryside Movement. Historical relics and artifacts were destroyed, Cultural and religious sites were ransacked. Mao officially declared the Cultural Revolution to have ended in 1969, after Maos death and the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976, reformers led by Deng Xiaoping gradually began to dismantle the Maoist policies associated with the Cultural Revolution. In 1958, after Chinas first Five-Year Plan, Mao called for grassroots socialism in order to accelerate his plans for turning China into an industrialized state. In this spirit, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, established Peoples Communes in the countryside, many communities were assigned production of a single commodity—steel. Mao vowed to increase production to twice 1957 levels. The Great Leap was an economic failure, uneducated farmers attempted to produce steel on a massive scale, partially relying on backyard furnaces to achieve the production targets set by local cadres. The steel produced was low quality and largely useless, the Great Leap reduced harvest sizes and led to a decline in the production of most goods except substandard pig iron and steel. Furthermore, local authorities frequently exaggerated production numbers, hiding and intensifying the problem for several years, in the meantime, chaos in the collectives, bad weather, and exports of food necessary to secure hard currency resulted in the Great Chinese Famine. Food was in shortage, and production fell dramatically. The famine caused the deaths of millions of people, particularly in poorer inland regions, the Great Leaps failure reduced Maos prestige within the Party. Forced to take responsibility, in 1959, Mao resigned as the President of the Peoples Republic of China, Chinas de jure head of state

9.
Lin Biao
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Lin Biao was a Marshal of the Peoples Republic of China who was pivotal in the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeast China. Lin was the general who commanded the decisive Liaoshen and Pingjin Campaigns, in which he co-led the Manchurian Field Army to victory and he crossed the Yangtze River in 1949, decisively defeated the Kuomintang and took control of the coastal provinces in Southeast China. He ranked third among the Ten Marshals, Zhu De and Peng Dehuai were considered senior to Lin, and Lin ranked directly ahead of He Long and Liu Bocheng. Lin abstained from taking a role in politics after the civil war ceased in 1949. He led a section of the civil bureaucracy as one of the co-serving Deputy Vice Premiers of the Peoples Republic of China from 1954 onwards. Lin became more active in politics when named one of the co-serving Vice Chairmen of the Communist Party of China in 1958 and he held the three responsibilities of Vice Premier, Vice Chairman and Minister of National Defense from 1959 onwards. Lin died on September 13,1971 when a Hawker Siddeley Trident he was crashed in Öndörkhaan of Mongolia. The exact events of this Lin Biao incident have been a source of speculation ever since, the Chinese governments official explanation is that Lin and his family attempted to flee following a botched coup against Mao. Others have argued that they fled out of fear they would be purged, following Lins death, he was officially condemned as a traitor by the Communist Party. Since the late 1970s Lin and Maos wife Jiang Qing have been labeled the two major forces of the Cultural Revolution, receiving official blame from the Chinese government. Lin Biao was the son of a merchant family in Huanggang. His name at birth was Lin Yurong, Lins father opened a small handicrafts factory in the mid-late 1910s, but was forced to close the factory due to heavy taxes imposed by local militarists. After closing the factory, Lins father worked as a purser aboard a river steamship, Lin entered primary school in 1917, but moved to Shanghai in 1919 to continue his education. As a child, Lin was much interested in participating in student movements than in pursuing his formal education. Lin joined an organization of the Communist Youth League before he graduated high school in 1925. Later in 1925 he participated in the May Thirtieth Movement and enrolled in the newly established Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou, as a young cadet, Lin admired the personality of Chiang Kai-shek, who was then the Principal of the Academy. At Whampoa, Lin also studied under Premier Zhou Enlai, who was eight years older than Lin, Lin had no contact with Zhou after their time in Whampoa, until they met again in Yanan in the late 1930s. Lins relationship with Zhou was never close, but they rarely opposed each other directly

10.
Gang of Four
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The Gang of Four was a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gangs leading figure was Mao Zedongs last wife Jiang Qing, the other members were Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen. Their downfall on October 6,1976, a month after Maos death, brought about major celebrations on the streets of Beijing. The group was led by Jiang Qing, and consisted of three of her associates, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen. Two other men who were dead in 1976, Kang Sheng. Chen Boda and Mao Yuanxin, the latter being Maos nephew, were considered some of the Gangs closer associates. Most Western accounts consider that the leadership of the Cultural Revolution consisted of a wider group. Most prominent was Lin Biao, until his flight from China. Chen Boda is often classed as a member of Lins faction rather than Jiang Qings, the writing argues that portraying Peng Dehuais position sympathetically was an attack on Chairman Maos Great Leap Forward which led Mao to purge Peng. This article is cited as launching the Cultural Revolution, Jiang Qing staged revolutionary operas during the Cultural Revolution and met with the Red Guards. Mao placed his wife Jiang Qing, a film actress who before 1966 had not taken a public political role. Zhang, Yao and Wang were party leaders in Shanghai who had played leading roles in securing that city for Mao during the Cultural Revolution, around the time of the death of Lin Biao, the Cultural Revolution began to lose momentum. The new commanders of the Peoples Liberation Army demanded that order be restored in light of the situation along the border with the Soviet Union. Liu Shaoqi had meanwhile died in prison in 1969, near the end of Maos life, a power struggle occurred between the Gang of Four and the alliance of Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, and Ye Jianying. Even decades later, it is impossible to know the truth of these events. However, Zhous successor as Premier was not one of the radicals, upon Maos death, Hua was named Communist Party chairman as well. The radicals hoped that the key military leaders Wang Dongxing and Chen Xilian would support them, on 6 October 1976, Hua had the four leading radicals and a number of their lesser associates arrested

11.
Tiananmen Incident
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The Tiananmen Incident took place on April 5,1976 at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The incident occurred on the day of mourning, the Qingming Festival, after the Nanjing Incident. The Central Committees decision on the event was reversed after the Cultural Revolution ended, the death of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai on January 8,1976, prompted the protest. Zhou Enlai was a respected senior Chinese leader. For several years before his death, he was involved in a power struggle with other senior leaders in the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. Premier Zhous most visible and powerful antagonists were the four members who came to be called the Gang of Four. The leader of the clique, Jiang Qing, was married to Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, Chinas leaders, namely Jiang Qing and Mao Yuanxin, saw the popular gathering as a threat to the forward movement of the Cultural Revolution. They consulted with Party Chairman Mao Zedong, claiming these people to be capitalist roaders who were hitting back at the Proletarian Revolution, action was taken on the night of April 5, when the number of mourners were a few thousand. Controlled by Jiang Qing and the mayor of Beijing, the militia encircled the area, then went in with clubs, according to Jan Wong in Red China Blues, around 60 were dragged into the Great Hall of the People, beheaded and secretly cremated. The media subsequently linked the event to Deng Xiaoping, then carrying out the duties of the Premier. It was rumored that the Gang of Four had become apprehensive of Dengs influence, Deng was an ally of Zhou Enlai, and was placed under house arrest in Guangzhou. After Maos death and the fall of the Gang of Four in October 1976, Party leaders rehabilitated Deng and brought him back to Beijing, may Fourth Movement Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 Wong, J. Red China Blues. Death ritual as political trickster in the People’s Republic of China, The China Journal Vol,26 pp. 67–97

12.
Chinese economic reform
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China had one of the worlds largest and most advanced economies prior to the nineteenth century. The economy stagnated beginning in the 16th century and even declined in terms in the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century. Economic reforms introducing market principles began in 1978 and were carried out in two stages, the private sector grew remarkably, accounting for as much as 70 percent of China gross domestic product by 2005. From 1978 until 2013, unprecedented growth occurred, with the economy increasing by 9. 5% a year, the conservative Hu-Wen Administration more heavily regulated and controlled the economy after 2005, reversing some reforms. The success of Chinas economic policies and the manner of their implementation has resulted in changes in Chinese society. Large-scale government planning programs alongside market characteristics have minimized poverty, while incomes and income inequality have increased, during the 1930s, China developed a modern industrial sector, which stimulated modest but significant economic growth. The economy was disrupted by the war against Japan and the Chinese Civil War from 1937 to 1949. Urban Chinese citizens experienced virtually no increase in living standards from 1957 onwards, one study noted that average pay levels in the catering sector exceeded wages in higher education. The economic performance of the Peoples Republic of China was poor in comparison with other East Asian countries, such as Japan, South Korea and rival Chiang Kai-sheks Republic of China. The economy was riddled with huge inefficiencies and malinvestments, and with Maos death, Economic reforms began after Deng Xiaoping and his reformist allies ousted the Gang of Four Maoist faction. By the time Deng took power, there was support among the elite for economic reforms. As the de facto leader, Dengs policies faced opposition from party conservatives but were successful in increasing the countrys wealth. Dengs first reforms began in agriculture, a long neglected by the Communist Party. Deng responded by decollectivizing agriculture and emphasizing the household-responsibility system, which divided the land of the Peoples communes into private plots, farmers were able to keep the lands output after paying a share to the state. This move increased agricultural production, increased the living standards of hundreds of millions of farmers, reforms were also implemented in urban industry to increase productivity. Moreover, the adoption of Industrial Responsibility System 1980s further promote the development of state-owned enterprise by allowing individuals or groups to manage the enterprise by contract. Private businesses were allowed to operate for the first time since the Communist takeover, price flexibility was also increased, expanding the service sector. The country was opened to foreign investment for the first time since the Kuomintang era, Deng created a series of special economic zones for foreign investment that were relatively free of the bureaucratic regulations and interventions that hampered economic growth

13.
Sino-Vietnamese War
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The Sino-Vietnamese War, also known as the Third Indochina War, was a brief border war fought between the Peoples Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in early 1979. China launched the offensive in response to Vietnams invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, Kissinger also noted that hatever the shortcomings of its execution, the Chinese campaign reflected a serious, long-term strategic analysis. Chinese forces entered northern Vietnam and captured several cities near the border, on March 6,1979, China declared that the gate to Hanoi was open and that their punitive mission had been achieved, before withdrawing their troops from Vietnam. Both China and Vietnam claimed victory in the last of the Indochina Wars, as Vietnamese troops remained in Cambodia until 1989, it can be said that China was unsuccessful in their goal of dissuading Vietnam from involvement in Cambodia. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Sino-Vietnamese border was finalized, although unable to deter Vietnam from Cambodia, China was able to demonstrate that its Cold War communist adversary, the Soviet Union, was unable to protect its Vietnamese ally. The Sino-Vietnamese War is also known as the Third Indochina War, in order to distinguish it from the First Indochina War, in Vietnam, the conflict is known as the War against Chinese expansionism. In China, the war is referred to as the Defensive Counterattack against Vietnam, the major allied victors of World War II, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, all agreed that the area belonged to the French. Nationalist Chinese troops entered the country to disarm Japanese troops north of the 16th parallel on 14 September 1945, the parallel divided Indochina into Chinese and British controlled zones. Once hostilities had ended the British handed over the territory to the French, in January 1946, the Viet Minh won elections across central and northern Vietnam. British forces departed on 26 March 1946, leaving Vietnam in the control of the French, the French landed in Hanoi by March 1946 and in November of that year they ousted the Viet Minh from the city. Soon thereafter, the Viet Minh began a war against the French Union forces. Vietnam first became a French colony when France invaded in 1858, by the 1880s, the French had expanded their sphere of influence in Southeast Asia to include all of Vietnam, and by 1893 both Laos and Cambodia had become French colonies as well. Rebellions against French colonial power were common up to World War I, the European war heightened revolutionary sentiment in Southeast Asia, and the independence-minded population rallied around revolutionaries such as Hồ Chí Minh and others, including royalists. Prior to their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese occupied French Indochina, the Japanese surrender in August 1945 created a power vacuum in Indochina, as the various political factions scrambled for control. The events leading to the First Indochina War are subject to historical dispute, when the Viet Minh hastily sought to establish the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the remaining French acquiesced while waiting for the return of French forces to the region. The Kuomintang supported French restoration, but Viet Minh efforts towards independence were helped by Chinese communists under the Soviet Unions power, the Soviet Union at first indirectly supported Vietnamese communists, but later directly supported Hồ Chí Minh. The Soviets nonetheless remained less supportive than China until after the Sino-Soviet split, the war itself involved numerous events that had major impacts throughout Indochina. Two major conferences were held to bring about a resolution, finally, on July 20,1954, the Geneva Conference resulted in a political settlement to reunite the country, signed with support from China, Russia, and Western European powers

14.
Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign
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The Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign was a political campaign spearheaded by conservative factions within the Communist Party of China that lasted from October 1983 to December 1983. In general, its advocates wanted to curb Western-inspired liberal ideas among the Chinese populace, the campaign reached a climax in mid November 1983 and largely faded into obscurity into 1984 after intervention from Deng Xiaoping. However, elements of the campaign were rehashed during the anti-Bourgeois liberalization campaign of the late 1980s against liberal party general secretary Hu Yaobang. The Twelfth Party Congress also laid the foundations for the establishment of a new constitution, following the revisions to the constitution at the end of 1982, critical academic discourse grew. Scholars called for respect for human dignity and freedoms. By the spring of 1983, calls for a more humanist society were reaching a crescendo, zhao linked trends in writing and artistic circles to rising instances of crime, murder, rape, and corruption, blaming the growing crime rate on political and ideological apathy. He called on law enforcement to commence a campaign to suppress counterrevolutionaries. Following Zhaos speech, conservative Party journals began linking the recent crime wave with the discourse on humanism. The editors of Red Flag, for instance, declared that Various kinds of crime are bound to occur where the influence of bourgeois extreme individualism. is still present. If we speak of mercy and humanism, it will be a great dereliction of our duty. to the cause of socialism. In October 1983, during the Second Plenum of the Twelfth Party Congress, Deng Xiaoping identified several types of individuals and intellectual trends as undermining the partys objectives. On the left, he targeted the remnant leftist ideas of the Cultural Revolution, to appease the conservative factions, he then turned to criticize intellectuals and party members who had focused their attention on questions of humanism. Deng criticized humanism as un-Marxist, saying it leads youth astray, Deng emphasized the need to combat spiritual pollution brought about by liberalization. Deng Liqun, a prominent conservative in the party, was rumored to have been behind the attacks on humanism, western hairstyles, clothing, and facial hair were also criticized as being symptomatic of spiritual pollution. In December 1983, less than two months after the campaign began, Deng Xiaoping intervened to end the campaign against spiritual pollution, hudson, Christopher, The China Handbook, Regional handbooks of economic development, prospects onto the 21st century, Chicago, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers,1997

15.
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
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The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, commonly known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations in Beijing in 1989. More broadly, it refers to the national movement inspired by the Beijing protests during that period. The protests were suppressed after the government declared martial law. The number of deaths has been estimated at anywhere between the hundreds to the thousands. The reforms of the 1980s had led a nascent market economy which benefited some groups but seriously disaffected others, common grievances at the time included inflation, limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy, and restrictions on political participation. The students called for democracy, greater accountability, freedom of the press, at the height of the protests, about a million people assembled in the Square. As the protests developed, the authorities veered back and forth between conciliatory and hardline tactics, exposing deep divisions within the party leadership, by May, a student-led hunger strike galvanized support for the demonstrators around the country and the protests spread to some 400 cities. Ultimately, Chinas paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and other party elders believed the protests to be a political threat, Party authorities declared martial law on May 20, and mobilized as many as 300,000 troops to Beijing. The Chinese government was condemned internationally for the use of force. Western countries imposed sanctions and arms embargoes. The Chinese government initially condemned the protests as a counter-revolutionary riot, the police and internal security forces were strengthened. Officials deemed sympathetic to the protests were demoted or purged, more broadly, the suppression temporarily halted the policies of liberalization in the 1980s. Considered a watershed event, the protests also set the limits on political expression in China well into the 21st century. Its memory is associated with questioning the legitimacy of Communist Party rule. In the Chinese language, the incident is most commonly known as the June Fourth Incident, June Fourth refers to the day on which the Peoples Liberation Army cleared Tiananmen Square of protesters, although actual operations began on the evening of June 3. Some use the June Fourth designation solely to refer to the carried out by the Army. Names such as June Fourth Movement and 89 Democracy Movement are used to describe the event in its entirety, outside mainland China, and among circles critical of the crackdown within mainland China, it is commonly referred to in Chinese as June Fourth Massacre and June Fourth Crackdown. The government of the Peoples Republic of China have used numerous names for the event since 1989, in English, the terms Tiananmen Square Massacre, Tiananmen Square Protests or Tiananmen Square Crackdown are often used to describe the series of events

16.
One country, two systems
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One country, two systems is a constitutional principle formulated by Deng Xiaoping, the Paramount Leader of the Peoples Republic of China, for the reunification of China during the early 1980s. Under the principle, each of the two regions could continue to have its own system, legal, economic and financial affairs. Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom, ruled by a governor for 156 years until 1997, China had to accept some conditions, stipulated in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, such as the drafting and adoption of Hong Kongs mini-constitution before its return. Set to expire in 2047, the current arrangement has permitted Hong Kong to function as its own entity in international settings rather than as a part of China. The Chinese renminbi is not legal tender in Hong Kong, likewise, the Hong Kong Dollar is not accepted in stores in China. With this arrangement, a permit or visa is required when passing the borders of Hong Kong and China, the central government in Beijing maintains control over Hong Kongs foreign affairs as well as the legal interpretation of the Basic Law. The same principle was proposed in talks with Portugal about Macau, what will happen after 2047 and 2049 has never been publicly stated. Important cultural effects are exemption of the SARs from mainland laws mandating the use of simplified characters in publishing and Mandarin in public education, the diplomatic relations and regional defence of the two SARs however, is the responsibility of the Central Peoples Government in Beijing. Hong Kong continues using English common law and Macau continues using the Portuguese civil law system, in Hong Kong, the system has been implemented through the Basic Law of Hong Kong, which serves as the mini-constitution of the region, and consistent with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Similar arrangements are in place with Macau, under the respective basic laws, the SARs have a high degree of autonomy and enjoy executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication. For those international organisations and conferences not limited to states, the SARs may participate using the names in the form of Hong Kong, China and Macau, as separate economic entities, both SARs of Hong Kong and Macau are members of the World Trade Organization. Hong Kong is also one of the economies of APEC. The Hong Kong Basic Law also provides protection on various fundamental human rights. They considered, for example, that the proposals in Article 23 of the Basic Law in 2003 might have undermined autonomy, on 10 June 2014, Beijing released a new report asserting its authority over the territory. For Macau, Beijing uses the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region in Macau, the disappearances of five staff at Causeway Bay Books – an independent publisher and bookstore – in October to December 2015 precipitated an international outcry. At least two of them disappeared in mainland China, one in Thailand, One member was last seen in Hong Kong, but apparently had found his way to Shenzhen, across the Chinese border, without the necessary travel documents. The October disappearances were muted, as unexplained disappearances and lengthy extrajudicial detentions are known to occur in mainland China and it was later confirmed that they are under detention in mainland China although most had reappeared in Hong Kong and cancelled their missing persons reports with the police. Lam indicated the involvement of the Central Investigation Team, which is under control of the highest level of the Beijing leadership

17.
History of Hong Kong
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Starting out as a fishing village and salt production site, Hong Kong later evolved into an important free port and eventually a major international financial centre. Archaeological findings suggesting human activity in Hong Kong date back over 30,000 years, Stone tools from the Old Stone Age have been excavated in Sai Kung in Wong Tei Tung. The stone tools found in Sai Kung were perhaps from a tool making ground. Religious carvings on outlying islands and coastal areas have also been found, the latest findings dating from the Paleolithic suggest that Wong Tei Tung is one of the most ancient settlements in Hong Kong. The territory that now comprises Hong Kong was incorporated into China during the Qin dynasty, during the Qin dynasty, the territory was governed by Panyu County until the time of the Jin dynasty. Archaeological evidence indicates that the population increased during the Han dynasty, Tai Po Hoi, the sea of Tai Po, was a major pearl hunting harbour in China from the Han dynasty through to the Ming dynasty, with activities peaking during the Southern Han. During the Jin dynasty until the early Tang dynasty, Hong Kong was governed by Baoan County, under the Tang dynasty, the Guangdong region flourished as an international trading centre. The Tuen Mun region in what is now Hong Kongs New Territories served as a port, naval base, salt production centre, Lantau Island was also a salt production centre, where riots by salt smugglers against the government broke out. From the middle of the Tang dynasty until the Ming dynasty, in 1276, during the Mongol invasion, the Southern Song dynasty court moved to Fujian, then to Lantau Island and later to todays Kowloon City. Emperor Huaizong of Song, the last Song Dynasty emperor, was enthroned at Mui Wo on Lantau Island on 10 May 1278 at the age of eight and this event is commemorated by the Sung Wong Toi in Kowloon. After his defeat at the Battle of Yamen on 19 March 1279, Tung Chung valley, named after a hero who gave up his life for the emperor, is believed to have been one of the locations for his court. Hau Wong, an official of the emperor, is worshipped in Hong Kong today. During the Mongol period, Hong Kong saw its first population boom as Chinese refugees entered the area, many refugees were driven by war and famine. The five clans of Hau, Tang, Pang and Liu and Man were Chinese from Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi who lived mostly in the New Territories, despite the immigration and sparse development of agriculture, the area was hilly and relatively barren. People had to rely on salt, pearl and fishery trades to produce income, some clans built walled villages to protect themselves from the threat of bandits, rival clans and wild animals. The Qing-dynasty Chinese pirate Cheung Po Tsai became a legend in Hong Kong, during the Ming dynasty, Hong Kong was administered by Xinan County. During the Qing dynasty, Hong Kong remained under the governance of Xinan County, as a military outpost and trading port, Hong Kongs territory gained the attention of the world. After the Great Clearance policy, ordered by the Kangxi Emperor, many Hakka people migrated from inland China to Xinan County, which included modern Hong Kong

18.
History of Macau
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Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. Macau became a colony of the Portuguese empire in 1557 and it was lent to Portugal as a trading post but remained under Chinese authority and sovereignty. Self-administration was next achieved in the 1840s, when the Qing dynasty and Portugal signed the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking in 1887, the treaty terms made Macau a Portuguese territory again until 1999, when it was handed over to China. Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia, the human history of Macau stretches back up to 6,000 years, and includes many different and diverse civilisations and periods of existence. Evidence of human and culture dating back 4,000 to 6,000 years has been discovered on the Macau Peninsula, during the Qin Dynasty, the region came under the jurisdiction of Panyu County, Nanhai Prefecture of the province of Guangdong. It was administratively part of Dongguan Prefecture in the Jin Dynasty, in 1152, during the Song dynasty, it was under the jurisdiction of the new Xiangshan County. Since the 5th century, merchant ships travelling between Southeast Asia and Guangzhou used the region as a port for refuge, fresh water, and food. The first recorded inhabitants of the area are some 50,000 people seeking refuge in Macau from invading Mongols in 1277 and they were able to defend their settlements and establish themselves there. Mong Há has long been the center of Chinese life in Macau and the site of what may be the regions oldest temple, a shrine devoted to the Buddhist Guanyin. Later in the Ming Dynasty, fishermen migrated to Macau from various parts of Guangdong and Fujian provinces, the Hoklo Boat people were the first to show interest in Macau as a trading centre for the southern provinces. However, Macau did not develop as a settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. During the age of discovery Portuguese sailors explored the coasts of Africa, the sailors later established posts at Goa in 1510, and conquered Malacca in 1511, driving the Sultan to the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula from where he kept making raids on the Portuguese. The Portuguese under Jorge Álvares landed at Lintin Island in the Pearl River Delta of China in 1513 with a hired junk sailing from Portuguese Malacca and they erected a stone marker at Lintin Island claiming it for the King of Portugal, Manuel I. In the same year, the Indian Viceroy Afonso de Albuquerque commissioned Rafael Perestrello — a cousin of Christopher Columbus to sail to China in order to open up trade relations. Rafael traded with the Chinese merchants in Guangzhou in that year and in 1516, Portugals king Manuel I in 1517 commissioned a diplomatic and trade mission to Guangzhou headed by Tomé Pires and Fernão Pires de Andrade. The embassy lasted until the death of the Zhengde Emperor in Nanjing, the embassy was further rejected by the Chinese Ming court, which now became less interested in new foreign contacts. The Ming Court was also influenced by reports of misbehaviour of Portuguese elsewhere in China, in 1521 and 1522 several more Portuguese ships reached the trading island Tamão off the coast near Guangzhou, but were driven away by the now hostile Ming authorities. Pires was imprisoned and died in Canton, following a ship wreck in 1535, Portuguese traders were allowed to anchor ships in Macaus harbours, and the right to carry out trading activities, though not the right to stay onshore

19.
Chinese unification
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The Republic of China was founded in 1912 to govern Mainland China, which the PRC now governs, after defeating the Imperial Qing government. In 1945, Japanese forces in Taiwan surrendered to Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of ROC, on behalf of the World War II allies, and Taiwan became part of China. During the last years of the Chinese Civil War, the ROC lost mainland China to the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP established the Peoples Republic of China on the lost Mainland territory in 1949. The PRC government claimed that Taiwan is a province of the PRC. It established the One-China policy to clarify its intent, the PRC threatened to invade Taiwan should it consider peaceful incorporation not possible. Most Taiwanese people oppose joining the PRC for various reasons, including fears of the loss of Taiwans democracy, opponents either favour maintaining the status quo of Republic of China administrating Taiwan or the pursuit of Taiwanese independence. The ROC Constitution states that its territory includes the mainland, the concept of One China has been part of Chinese political orthodoxy since ancient times. Often, if someone claimed to be the Emperor of China with the Mandate of Heaven, then all other regimes within the country were either considered rebel or tributary. The Communist Party considered the Republic of China to have been obsoleted by the Peoples Republic of China, the concept of reunification replaced the concept of liberation by the PRC in 1979 as it embarked, after Maos death, on economic reforms and pursued a more pragmatic foreign policy. In 1991, President Lee Teng-hui announced that his government no longer disputed the rule of the Communists in mainland China, the PRC broke off these talks in 1999 when President Lee described relations with the PRC as special state-to-state. Until the mid-1990s, unification supporters on Taiwan were bitterly opposed to the Communist Party, since the mid-1990s a considerable warming of relations between the Communist Party and Taiwanese unification supporters, as both oppose the pro-Taiwan independence bloc. This brought about the accusation that supporters were attempting to sell out Taiwan. They responded saying that closer ties with mainland China, especially economic ties, are in Taiwans interest, within Taiwan, unification supporters tend to see China as a larger cultural entity divided by the Chinese Civil War into separate states or governments within the country. In addition, supporters see Taiwanese identity as one piece of a broader Chinese identity rather than as a cultural identity. As of the 2008 election of President Ma Ying-Jeou, the KMT agreed to the One China principle, thus, under this proposal, the Republic of China would become fully defunct. Some Taiwanese also advocated One Country, Two Systems while more moderate supporters argued to uphold the status quo until mainland China democratized and industrialized to the level as Taiwan. In the 2000 presidential election, independent candidate James Soong proposed a European Union-style relation with mainland China along with a non-aggression pact, in the 2004 presidential election, Lien Chan proposed a confederation-style relationship. Beijing objected to the plan, claiming that Taiwan was already part of the China, unification proposals were not actively floated in Taiwan and the issue remained moot under President Chen Shui-bian, who refused to accept talks under Beijings pre-conditions

20.
2008 Sichuan earthquake
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The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, also known as the Great Sichuan earthquake or Wenchuan earthquake, occurred at 02,28,01 PM China Standard Time on May 12,2008. Measuring at 8.0 Ms, the epicenter was located 80 kilometres west-northwest of Chengdu. The earthquake was felt in nearby countries and as far away as both Beijing and Shanghai—1,500 km and 1,700 km away—where office buildings swayed with the tremor. Strong aftershocks, some exceeding 6 Ms, continued to hit the area up to months after the main quake, causing further casualties. Over 69,000 people lost their lives in the quake,374,176 were reported injured, with 18,222 listed as missing as of July 2008. The earthquake left about 4.8 million people homeless, though the number could be as high as 11 million, approximately 15 million people lived in the affected area.5 on the Richter magnitude scale. It is the 21st deadliest earthquake of all time, according to a study by the China Earthquake Administration, the earthquake occurred along the Longmenshan fault, a thrust structure along the border of the Indo-Australian Plate and Eurasian Plate. Seismic activities concentrated on its mid-fracture, the rupture lasted close to 120 seconds, with the majority of energy released in the first 80 seconds. Starting from Wenchuan, the rupture propagated at an speed of 3.1 kilometers per second 49° toward north east. Maximum displacement amounted to 9 meters, the focus was deeper than 10 km. In a United States Geological Survey study, preliminary rupture models of the earthquake indicated displacement of up to 9 meters along a fault approximately 240 km long by 20 km deep. The earthquake generated deformations of the greater than 3 meters. On May 20, USGS seismologist Tom Parsons warned that there is risk of a major M>7 aftershock over the next weeks or months. His data also showed that the earthquake lasted about two minutes and released 30 times the energy of the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995 in Japan and he pointed out that the shallowness of the epicenter and the density of population greatly increased the severity of the earthquake. According to reports from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, the extent of the earthquake and after shock-affected areas lies north-east, along the Longmen Shan fault. The Longmen Shan Fault System is situated in the border of the Tibetan Plateau. This earthquake ruptured at least two structures in Longmen Shan Fault System, i. e. the Beichuan Fault. According to CEA, The energy source of the Wenchuan earthquake and Longmenshans southeast push came from the strike of the Indian Plate onto the Eurasian Plate and this finally caused a sudden dislocation in the Yingxiu-Beichuan fracture, leading to the violent earthquake of Ms 8.0

21.
2008 Summer Olympics
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A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events. China became the 22nd nation to host the Olympic Games and the 18th to hold a Summer Olympic Games. It was the time that the Summer Olympic Games were held in East Asia and Asia, after Tokyo, Japan, in 1964 and Seoul, South Korea. Beijing was awarded the Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001, the Government of the Peoples Republic of China promoted the Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transportation systems. A total of 37 venues were used to host the events, the official logo of these Olympic Games, titled Dancing Beijing, refers to the host city by featuring a stylized calligraphic character jīng. The Games were the second most watched Olympics in history, attracting 4.7 billion viewers worldwide, there were 43 world records and 132 Olympic records set at the 2008 Summer Olympics. An unprecedented 86 countries won at least one medal during the Games, Chinese athletes won the most gold medals with 51, and with 100 medals in total became only the 7th different Olympic team to top an overall medal tally. The United States won the most total medals with 110, the games were deemed highly successful with the rising standard of competition among nations across the world. Beijing was elected as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 13 July 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, defeating bids from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities had submitted bids to the IOC, after the first round of voting, Beijing held a significant lead over the other four candidates. Osaka received only six votes and was eliminated, in the second round, Beijing was supported by a majority of voters, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds. Torontos bid was their 5th failure since 1960, the size of China, its increased enforcement of doping controls, and sympathy concerning its loss of the 2000 Summer Olympics to Sydney were all factors in the decision. Eight years earlier, Beijing had led every round of voting for the 2000 Summer Olympics before losing to Sydney by two votes in the final round. Human rights concerns expressed by Amnesty International and politicians in both Europe and the United States were considered by the delegates, according to IOC Executive Director François Carrard, Carrard and others suggested that the selection might lead to improvements in human rights in China. In addition, a number of IOC delegates who had formerly been athletes expressed concern about heat and air quality during the Games, China outlined plans to address these environmental concerns in its bid application. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics at USD6.8 billion in 2015-dollars and this includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e. g. The Beijing Olympics cost of USD6.8 billion compares with costs of USD4.6 billion for Rio 2016, average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is USD5.2 billion. They went on to claim that revenues from the Games would exceed the original target of $16 million

22.
Expo 2010
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Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE, in the tradition of international fairs and expositions, the theme of the exposition was Better City – Better Life and signifies Shanghais new status in the 21st century as the next great world city. The Expo emblem features the Chinese character 世 modified to represent three people together with the 2010 date and it had the largest number of countries participating and was the most expensive Expo in the history of the worlds fairs. The Shanghai World Expo was also the largest Worlds Fair site ever at 5.28 square km, by the end of the expo, over 73 million people had visited – a record attendance – and 246 countries and international organizations had participated. On 16 October 2010, the set a single-day record of over 1.03 million visitors. Shanghai has been one of the main cities envisioned to host the expos for some time, many scholars have written about the possibility and made suggestions in books. Unofficial participation in fairs outside China have happened since 1851, in 1910, the Qing dynasty decided to host Chinas first fair with the 1910 Nanyang industrial exposition. Yeosu later won the bid to host Expo 2012, a three-month specialized world expo, in 2004, the Chinese central government established the Shanghai World Expo Organising Committee as the organization dedicated to host the event. The Organising Committee set up an Executive Committee which is responsible for the execution, besides, the Shanghai World Expo Coordination is founded for the daily affairs of the Executive Committee. The site of the event was the Nanpu Bridge–Lupu Bridge region in the center of Shanghai along both sides of the Huangpu River, the area of the Expo 2010 covers 5.28 km2. After winning the bid to host the Expo in 2002, Shanghai began a task to reshape the city. More than $48 billion was spent for the preparation, more than the cost of cleaning up Beijing in the preparations for the Olympics in 2008. Shanghai began clearing 2.6 square kilometres along the Huangpu River, that involved moving 18,000 families and 270 factories, including the Jiang Nan Shipyard, which employs 10,000 workers. During the expo, the site was crowded with national pavilions, sculpture gardens, shops. Shanghai trained more than 1.7 million volunteers and adopted Olympic-level security measures, adding metal detectors to subway entrances and screening cars entering the city. The Shanghai Expo also featured a version of the expo grounds featuring 3D renderings of the expo grounds. The Shanghai World Expo provided an opportunity for the tourism industry. During 2010’s Spring Festival, Shanghai received 2.79 million tourists, overall Shanghai’s tourism revenue achieved an increase of 13 percent year on year during Spring Festival, resulting in RMB2.1 billion in total revenue

23.
2015 China Victory Day Parade
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The 2015 China Victory Day parade was a military parade held along Changan Avenue, Beijing, on 3 September 2015 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day of World War II. The commemoration was the first high-profile military parade held to celebrate an occasion other than the National Day of the Peoples Republic of China, Li Keqiang was the master of ceremonies and Song Puxuan was the chief commander of the parade. The 70th Anniversary of V-day parade marked the first time that China held a military parade other than the National Day, since the founding of the Peoples Republic in 1949, China held parades primarily on October 1, the countrys national day. The most prominent renditions of the parade were held in 1959,1984,1999, and 2009, presided over respectively by then leaders Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao. The 70th anniversary parade was also the first major parade since Xi Jinping took power as the President of the Peoples Republic of China, the prevailing theme was to be peace and victory. Xi Jinping had attended the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade in May as the guest-of-honour of Russian president Vladimir Putin, National leadership placed considerable importance on being able to put the best foot forward and do away with distractions. Line 1, Beijing Subway, which passes underneath Changan Avenue, was shut down,256 bus-lines in Beijing were placed under tight transport restrictions from September 2–4, on the day of the parade, hospitals restricted most of their activities beyond emergencies, the stock markets were closed. Areas in the city centre were placed under martial law, and 850,000 citizen guards were deployed to ensure security within the city. The city authorities sent in trained macaques and falcons to make sure the skies over central Beijing were free of birds that would put the flypast at risk, the trained macaque monkeys climbed trees and dismantled birds nests in advance of the parade. Hot air balloons and hang gliders were equally barred from the city, domestic satellite televisions were restricted from playing entertainment programs between September 1–5. China Central Television ceased the broadcasting of all entertainment programming, only playing films, the act passed despite strong resistance and more than 90 amendments from one legislator. Premier Li Keqiang was the master of ceremonies for the parade, atop Tiananmen, Xi Jinping wore a Mao suit, as was customary for leaders inspecting troops at military parades, his wife Peng Liyuan wore a red dress. The remaining political figures wore business suits, Xi delivered the keynote address at the parade with a surprise announcement of a plan to cut 300,000 personnel from the Chinese military. The other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, hong Kong Special Administration Region chief executive Leung Chun-ying also led a 300-person group at the parade, and Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui also attended. Estrada cited the fact that Manila and Beijing were sister cities as his reason for attending the event, however, former Chairman of the Kuomintang Lien Chan also attended the parade, ostensibly in his personal capacity, sparking controversy at home. Hong Kong commentator Frank Ching added that Lien Chans presence at the ceremony undermined the KMT, other pundits said that the main object of the parade was to rewrite history and elevate the Communist Partys position in ending the war. Kyodo News Agency cited a US department of State spokesman that United States objected the President of Sudan Bashir to attend the parade in the conference held on August 31,2015. Some 12,000 troops marched along Changan Avenue up to Tiananmen for inspection by paramount leader Xi Jinping, there were 10 squads, Each squad had 350 soldiers and were led by two major general or lieutenant general in active service

24.
Anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping
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A far-reaching campaign against corruption began in China following the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012. The campaign, carried out under the aegis of Xi Jinping, upon taking office, Xi vowed to crack down on tigers and flies, that is, high-level officials and local civil servants alike. Most of the officials investigated were removed from office and faced accusations of bribery and abuse of power, more than 100,000 people have been indicted for corruption. The campaign is part of a wider drive to clean up malfeasance within party ranks. It has become a feature of Xi Jinpings political brand. Such investigations broke the rule regarding PSC criminal immunity that has been the norm since the end of the Cultural Revolution. Wang was in charge of the execution of the campaign. The CCDIs official mandate is to party discipline, combat malfeasance. The CCDI is an agency of the party and therefore does not have judicial authority. Xi, who is also President, also directs anti-graft efforts of the military through his holding the office of Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The majority of reporting on the campaign by media sources have highlighted Xi Jinpings direct involvement in managing the campaign, however, formal disciplinary measures meted out to high-ranking officials such as former Politburo members must undergo ratification by the sitting Politburo. The inspection teams sends the results of the audits to the CCDI to enact formal investigative procedures such as Shuanggui, anti-corruption efforts have been on the agenda of successive Chinese leaders, though the effectiveness of these campaigns have varied. Since economic reforms began in 1978, political corruption in China has grown significantly, at the 18th Party Congress, both outgoing General Secretary Hu Jintao and incoming party leader Xi Jinping repeatedly emphasized that corruption is a threat to the partys survival. Xi made special mention of corruption in his speech as General Secretary on November 15,2012. In his first days in office, Xi vowed to crack down on tigers and flies and he also warned his colleagues on the Politburo that corruption would doom the party and state. The first batch of central inspection teams were dispatched in the quarter of 2013 to various Chinese provinces, including Jiangxi, Inner Mongolia, Chongqing. A handful of officials were investigated for corruption and removed from office as a result of the first round of inspection work. Of these regions, the team in charge of Jiangxi uncovered far-reaching official corruption in the province, bringing down about a dozen officials

25.
History of China
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Written records of the history of China can be found from as early as 1500 BC under the Shang dynasty. Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals describe a Xia dynasty, with thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the worlds oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. Much of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy developed during the Zhou dynasty. This is one of multiple periods of failed statehood in Chinese history, between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China, in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang united the warring kingdoms and created for himself the title of emperor of the Qin dynasty. Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly, in the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite, the Scholar-officials. Young men were selected through difficult examinations and were well-versed in calligraphy and philosophy. What is now China was inhabited by Homo erectus more than a million years ago, recent study shows that the stone tools found at Xiaochangliang site are magnetostratigraphically dated to 1.36 million years ago. The archaeological site of Xihoudu in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded use of fire by Homo erectus, the excavations at Yuanmou and later Lantian show early habitation. Perhaps the most famous specimen of Homo erectus found in China is the so-called Peking Man discovered in 1923–27, fossilised teeth of Homo sapiens dating to 125, 000–80,000 BC have been discovered in Fuyan Cave in Dao County in Hunan. The Neolithic age in China can be traced back to about 10,000 BC, Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC. The earliest evidence of cultivated rice, found by the Yangtze River, is carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago, farming gave rise to the Jiahu culture. At Damaidi in Ningxia,3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been discovered, featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and these pictographs are reputed to be similar to the earliest characters confirmed to be written Chinese. Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BC, Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC, Damaidi around 6000 BC, some scholars have suggested that Jiahu symbols were the earliest Chinese writing system. With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, Later, Yangshao culture was superseded by the Longshan culture, which was also centered on the Yellow River from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Bronze artifacts have been found at the Majiayao culture site, The Bronze Age is also represented at the Lower Xiajiadian culture site in northeast China. Sanxingdui located in what is now Sichuan province is believed to be the site of a ancient city. The site was first discovered in 1929 and then re-discovered in 1986, Chinese archaeologists have identified the Sanxingdui culture to be part of the ancient kingdom of Shu, linking the artifacts found at the site to its early legendary kings

26.
History of Beijing
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The city of Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. Prior to the unification of China by the First Emperor in 221 BC, Beijing had been for centuries the capital of the ancient states of Ji, during the first millennia of imperial rule, Beijing was a provincial city in northern China. When Kublai Khan made Dadu the capital of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, Paleolithic homo sapiens also lived in the caves from about 27,000 to 10,000 years ago. In 1996, over 2,000 Stone Age tools and bone fragments were discovered at a site at Wangfujing in the heart of downtown Beijing in Dongcheng District. The artifacts date to 24,000 to 25,000 years ago and are preserved in the Wangfujing Paleolithic Museum in the level of the New Oriental Plaza mall. Archaeologists have discovered over 40 neolithic settlements and burial sites throughout the municipality, the most notable include Zhuannian of Huairou District, Donghulin of Mentougou District, Shangzhai and Beiniantou of Pinggu District, Zhenjiangying of Fangshan, and Xueshan of Changping District. These sites indicate that farming was widespread in the area 6,000 to 7,000 years ago, painted pottery and carved jade of the Shangzhai and Xueshan Cultures resemble those of the Hongshan Culture further to the north. The earliest events of Beijings history are shrouded in legend and myth and this victory opened North China to settlement by the descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperors. The Yellow Emperor is said to have founded the settlement of Youling in or near Zhuolu, the sage-king Yao founded a town called Youdu in the Hebei-Beijing region about 4,000 years ago. You or Youzhou later became one of the names for Beijing. Yuzishan, in Shandongzhuang Village of Pinggu County, in the fringe of Beijing Municipality, is one of several places in China claiming to host the Yellow Emperors Tomb. Yuzishans association with Yellow Emperor dates back at least 1,300 years when Tang poets Chen Ziang, the first event in Beijings history with archaeological support dates to the 11th century BC when the Zhou dynasty absorbed the Shang dynasty. According to Confucius, King Wu of Zhou was so eager to establish his legitimacy that before dismounting his chariot and he then named his kinsman, Ji Shi, Duke Shao of Zhou, as the vassal of Yan. Ji Shi was preoccupied with other matters and dispatched his eldest son, Ji Ke, Ji Ke, is considered the founder of the Yan State. Bronzeware inscriptions have confirmed these events described in Sima Qians history and it is believed that the seat of Ji, called the City of Ji or Jicheng, was located in the southwestern part of present-day urban Beijing, just south of Guanganmen in Xicheng and Fengtai Districts. Several historical accounts mention a Hill of Ji northwest of the city, South and west of Guang’anmen, roof tiles used for palace construction and dense concentrations of wells lined with ceramic ring tiles have been discovered. The father was thrilled and awarded Jin cowry shells to pay for the creation of an honorific ding to remember the event, the inscription thus confirms the appointment of King Zhous kin to Yan and the location of Yans capital. Both Yan and Ji were situated along an important north-south trade route along the flank of the Taihang Mountains from the Central Plain to the northern steppes

27.
History of Shanghai
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The history of Shanghai spans over a thousand years and closely parallels the development of modern China. Originally a small village, Shanghai developed during the late Qing dynasty as one of Chinas principal trading ports. Since the economic reforms of the early 1990s the city has burgeoned to become one of Asias major financial centers and the worlds busiest container port. Around 6000 BCE, only the part of the Shanghai region encompassing todays Qingpu, Songjiang. The modern Jiading, Minhang and Fengxian districts emerged around 1,000 BC while the area remained underwater. The earliest Neolithic settlements known in this date to the Majiabang culture. This was overlapped by the Songze culture between around 3800–3300 BCE, by the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Eastern Jin dynasty, a thriving fishing industry had developed along the Song River—now known as Suzhou Creek, —a tributary of the Huangpu River. The character Hu is still used as an abbreviation to denote the city, qinglong Zhen, the Garrison of the Green Dragon, the first garrison in this area, was founded in 746 during the Tang dynasty in what is now the Qingpu District of Shanghai. Five years later, Huating Zhèn followed, demonstrating the growth of the region, later on, the areas proximity to Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song dynasty, proved beneficial. As a result, the flourishing and prosperous town earn the sobriquet Little Hangzhou, according to official government sources, Shanghai first became a city in 1291 during the Yuan dynasty. At this time, five of Huating Zhens villages were amalgamated to form a new Shanghai County on the site of the city centre. This new settlement had a population of about 300,000 with many engaged in the shipping trade, by the early 15th century, Shanghai had become important enough for Ming dynasty engineers to begin dredging the Huangpu River. In 1553, a city wall was built around the Old Town as a defense against the depredations of the Wokou, Shanghai had its first contact with the Jesuits in 1603 when the Shanghai scholar-bureaucrat Xu Guangqi was baptized by Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci. Xu later bequeathed some of his land in Shanghai, todays Xujiahui, meaning Xu family village, by the end of the Ming dynasty in 1664, Shanghai had become a major cotton and textile center with a population that would soon reach 200,000. During the late Qing dynasty, Shanghais economy began to rival that of the larger market at Suzhou. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, exports of cotton, silk, in 1832, the British East India Company explored Shanghai and the Yangzi River as a potential trading center for tea, silk, and opium, but was rebuffed by local officials. The British then forced the Chinese to import British opium by waging the First Opium War between 1839 and 1842, the Qing military forces proved no match for the British. The war finally ended with the Treaty of Nanjing and Shanghai was one of five Chinese cities to be opened up to British consuls, merchants, and their families

28.
Generations of Chinese leadership
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Because both the Communist Party of China and the Peoples Liberation Army promote according to seniority, it is possible to discern distinct generations of Chinese leadership. In official discourse, each group of leadership is identified with an extension of the ideology of the party. Historians have studied various periods in the development of the government of the Peoples Republic of China by reference to these generations, while in English the chronological leadership groups are commonly referred to as generations of Chinese leadership, there is no exact equivalent expression in Chinese. The usual term in official discourse for such a group is a leadership collective, thus, for example, the first generation of leaders identified below are labelled as the first generation leadership collective. In official discourse, they are not viewed as leaders of the state. The revision of party history into generations helped to secure Jiangs position as core, xi Jinping did continue this practice until October 2016 when the 6th Plenary of the 18th Central Committee named him as the core leader in a document. Thus, the first generation, from 1949 to 1976, consisted of Mao Zedong as core, along with Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Chen Yun, Peng Dehuai, and later Lin Biao and the Gang of Four. These were the leaders that founded the Peoples Republic of China after the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War and they were born between 1886 and 1907, although the Gang of Four were a distinct subgroup born 1914 to 1935. Most were born before the demise of the Qing Dynasty and thus lived to see both the birth and, on the mainland, the end of the Republic of China, one characteristic of these leaders were that they tended to be both political and military leaders. Most had some education outside China, and their formative experiences included the Long March, the Chinese Civil War, the guiding political ideology from the first generations were general principles of Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought. Liu, then the President, was removed from his party position in 1966, placed under house arrest in 1967, with the demise of Liu, Mao promoted Lin Biao as his deputy, and the Gang of Four to fill the role of his trusted henchmen. Lin fell out of favour, however, and died in 1971 while attempting to escape to the Soviet Union and their demise came shortly afterwards in a political coup managed by what become the second generation of leaders. Of the other members identified above, Chen Yun was sidelined from the early 1960s, lost his party position in 1969, but survived to play an influential role in the second generation of leadership. Peng Dehuai was denounced in 1959, made a return to government in 1965. The death of Mao, Zhou and Zhu in 1976, and soon afterwards the coup resulted in the arrest of the Gang of Four. During this period the most power and influence had a group of old party veterans, known as the Eight Elders, whose members were Li Xiannian and Chen Yun. All of them had more than 40 years of political experience, thus, in official discourse, the second generation of leadership lasted from 1976 to 1992. The official discourse of the Communist Party today identifies Deng Xiaoping as the core of this second generation, instead, the formal party leaders during this time were, successively, Hua Guofeng, Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang and Jiang Zemin

29.
Mao Zedong
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His Marxist–Leninist theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Maoism or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Mao adopted Marxism–Leninism while working at Peking University and became a member of the Communist Party of China. On October 1,1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China, in the following years Mao solidified his control through land reform campaigns against landlords, and perceived enemies of the state he termed as counter-revolutionaries. In 1957, he launched the Great Leap Forward campaign that aimed to rapidly transform Chinas economy from an economy to an industrial one. The campaign contributed to a famine, whose death toll is estimated at between 15 and 45 million. In 1972, Mao welcomed American President Richard Nixon in Beijing, signalling a policy of opening China, Mao suffered a series of heart attacks in 1976, and died in September, aged 82. He was succeeded as Paramount leader by Hua Guofeng, who was sidelined and replaced by Deng. A controversial figure, Mao is regarded as one of the most important individuals in modern world history, Mao Zedong was born on December 26,1893 in Shaoshan village, Hunan Province, China. His father, Mao Yichang, was an impoverished peasant who had become one of the wealthiest farmers in Shaoshan. Growing up in rural Hunan, Mao Zedong described his father as a stern disciplinarian, Maos mother, Wen Qimei, was a devout Buddhist who tried to temper her husbands strict attitude. Zedong too became a Buddhist, but abandoned this faith in his mid-teenage years, at age 8, Mao was sent to Shaoshan Primary School. At age 13, Mao finished primary education, and his father united him in a marriage to the 17-year-old Luo Yigu. Mao refused to recognise her as his wife, becoming a critic of arranged marriage. Luo was locally disgraced and died in 1910, interested in history, Mao was inspired by the military prowess and nationalistic fervour of George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte. The famine spread to Shaoshan, where starving peasants seized his fathers grain and he disapproved of their actions as morally wrong, but claimed sympathy for their situation. At age 16, Mao moved to a primary school in nearby Dongshan. In 1911, Mao began middle school in Changsha, Revolutionary sentiment was strong in the city, where there was widespread animosity towards Emperor Puyis absolute monarchy and many were advocating republicanism. The republicans figurehead was Sun Yat-sen, an American-educated Christian who led the Tongmenghui society, in Changsha, Mao was influenced by Suns newspaper, The Peoples Independence, and called for Sun to become president in a school essay

30.
Deng Xiaoping
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Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman. He was the paramount leader of the Peoples Republic of China from 1978 until his retirement in 1989, after Chairman Mao Zedongs death, Deng led his country through far-reaching market-economy reforms. While Deng never held office as the head of state, head of government or General Secretary, he nonetheless was responsible for economic reforms and an opening to the global economy. Born into a peasant background in Guangan, Sichuan province, Deng studied and worked in France in the 1920s and he joined the Communist Party of China in 1923. Following the founding of the Peoples Republic in 1949, Deng worked in Tibet, as the partys Secretary General in the 1950s, Deng presided over anti-rightist campaigns and became instrumental in Chinas economic reconstruction following the Great Leap Forward of 1957-1960. His economic policies, however, were at odds with Maos political ideologies, following Maos death in 1976, Deng outmaneuvered Maos chosen successor, Hua Guofeng. Some called him the architect of a new brand of thinking that combined socialist ideology with pragmatic market economy whose slogan was Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Deng possibly has ancestry from ethnically Hakka Han family in the village of Paifang, in the township of Xiexing, Guangan County in Sichuan province, approximately 160 km from Chongqing. Dengs ancestors can be traced back to Mei County, Guangdong, a prominent ancestral area for the Hakka people, Deng Xiaopings daughter Deng Rong wrote in the book My father Deng Xiaoping that his ancestry was probably but not definitely Hakka. Deng Xiaoping was born in Sichuan, Dengs father, Deng Wenming, was a middle-level landowner and had studied at the University of Law and Political Science in Chengdu. His mother, surnamed Dan, died early in Dengs life, leaving Deng, at the age of five Deng was sent to a traditional Chinese-style private primary school, followed by a more modern primary school at the age of seven. Dengs first wife, one of his schoolmates from Moscow, died aged 24 a few days after giving birth to Dengs first child and his second wife, Jin Weiying, left him after Deng came under political attack in 1933. His third wife Zhuo Lin was the daughter of an industrialist in Yunnan Province and she became a member of the Communist Party in 1938, and married Deng a year later in front of Maos cave dwelling in Yanan. They had five children, three daughters and two sons, when Deng first attended school, his tutor objected to his having the given name Xiānshèng, calling him Xixian, which includes the characters to aspire to and goodness, with overtones of wisdom. In the summer of 1919 Deng Xiaoping graduated from the Chongqing School and he and 80 schoolmates travelled by ship to France to participate in the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement, a work-study program in which 4,001 Chinese would participate by 1927. Deng, the youngest of all the Chinese students in the group, had just turned 15, wu Yuzhang, local leader of the Movement in Chongqing, enrolled Deng and his paternal uncle, Deng Shaosheng, in the program. Dengs father strongly supported his sons participation in the work-study abroad program, the night before his departure, Dengs father took his son aside and asked him what he hoped to learn in France. He repeated the words he had learned from his teachers, To learn knowledge, Deng was aware that China was suffering greatly, and that the Chinese people must have a modern education to save their country

31.
Jiang Zemin
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Jiang has been described as the core of the third generation of Communist Party leaders since 1989. With the waning influence of Eight Elders due to old age and with the death of Deng Xiaoping, Jiang consolidated his hold on power, Jiang has been criticized for being too concerned about his personal image at home, and too conciliatory towards Russia and the United States abroad. His contributions to party doctrine, known as the Three Represents, were written into the constitution in 2002. Jiang vacated the post of party General Secretary in 2002, but did not relinquish all of his titles until 2005. Jiang was born in the city of Yangzhou, Jiangsu and his ancestral home was the Jiang Village, Wuyuan County, Jiangxi. This was also the hometown of a number of prominent figures in Chinese academic, Jiang grew up during the years of Japanese occupation. His uncle, also his father, Jiang Shangqing, died fighting the Japanese in World War II and is considered in Jiang Zemins time to be a national hero. He graduated there in 1947 with a degree in electrical engineering. Jiang married Wang Yeping in 1949, also a native of Yangzhou and she graduated from Shanghai International Studies University. They have two sons, Jiang Mianheng and Jiang Miankang and he claims that he joined the Communist Party of China when he was in college. After the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China, Jiang received his training at the Stalin Automobile Works in Moscow in the 1950s and he also worked for Changchuns First Automobile Works. In 1985 he became Mayor of Shanghai, and subsequently the Party Secretary of Shanghai, Jiang received mixed reviews as mayor. Many of his critics dismissed him as a pot, a Chinese term for someone who only seems useful. Many credited Shanghais growth during the period to Zhu Rongji, Jiang was an ardent believer, during this period, in Deng Xiaopings economic reforms. In an attempt to curb student discontent in 1986, Jiang recited the Gettysburg Address in English in front of a group of student protesters, Jiang was described as having a passable command of several foreign languages, including Romanian, Russian, and English. One of his activities was to engage foreign visitors in small talk on arts and literature in their native language. He became friends with Allen Broussard, the African-American judge who visited Shanghai in 1987, in 1989, China was in crisis over the Tiananmen Square protest, and the central government was in conflict on how to handle the protesters. In June, Deng Xiaoping dismissed liberal Zhao Ziyang, who was considered to be too conciliatory toward the student protestors, at the time, Jiang was the Shanghai Party secretary, the top figure in Chinas new economic center

32.
Hu Jintao
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Hu Jintao is a Chinese politician who was the paramount leader of China from 2002 to 2012. He was a member of the 14th to 17th CPC Politburo Standing Committee, Hu is the first leader of the Communist Party without any significant revolutionary credentials. As such, his rise to the leadership represented Chinas transition of leadership from establishment communists to younger, during his term in office, Hu reintroduced state control in some sectors of the economy that were relaxed by the previous administration, and was conservative with political reforms. Along with his colleague Premier Wen Jiabao, Hu presided over nearly a decade of consistent economic growth, meanwhile, Hu followed conservative policies on China politically, cracking down on social disturbances, ethnic minority protests, and dissident figures. On foreign policy, Hu advocated for Chinas peaceful development, pursuing soft power in international relations, throughout Hus tenure, Chinas influence in Africa, Latin America, and other developing regions increased. Hu possessed a low-key and reserved leadership style and his tenure was characterized by collective leadership and consensus-based rule. These traits made Hu a rather unknown figure in the public eye, Hu retired in 2013 and was succeeded by Xi Jinping. Hu Jintao was born on 21 December 1942 in Taizhou, Jiangsu province and his branch of the family migrated from Jixi County, Anhui to Taizhou during his grandfathers generation. Though his father owned a tea trading business in Taizhou. His mother was a teacher and died when he was 7, Hus father was denounced during the Cultural Revolution, an event that apparently had a deep effect upon Hu, who diligently tried to clear his fathers name. During his time at Tsinghua, he met his wife Liu Yongqing, from 1969 to 1974, he worked for Sinohydro Engineering Bureau as an engineer. In 1973, Hu was transferred to the Construction Department of Gansu as a secretary, the next year he was promoted to vice senior chief. In 1980, Deng Xiaoping implemented the Four Transformations program, which aimed to produce communist leaders who were more revolutionary, younger, more knowledgeable, another protégé of Song, Wen Jiabao, also became prominent at the same time. In 1982, Hu was promoted to the position of Communist Youth League Gansu Branch Secretary and was appointed as the director of the All-China Youth Federation. His mentor Song Ping was transferred to Beijing as Minister of Organization of the Communist Party of China, with the support of Hu Yaobang and Deng Xiaoping, Hu was assured of a bright future in the party. At Song Pings suggestion, in 1982 central CPC authorities invited Hu to Beijing to study at the Central Party School, soon after, he was transferred to Beijing and appointed as secretariat of the Communist Youth League Central Committee. Two years later Hu was promoted to First Secretary of CY Central, during his term in the Youth League, Hu escorted Hu Yaobang, who was CPC General Secretary then, in visits around the country. Hu Yaobang, himself a veteran coming from the Youth League, in 1985, then-Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang pushed for Hu Jintao to be transferred to Guizhou as the provincial Committee Secretary of Communist Party of China

33.
Xi Jinping
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Xi Jinping is the current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the Peoples Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As General Secretary, Xi holds a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee. The son of Communist veteran Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping rose through the ranks politically in Chinas coastal provinces, Xi was governor of Fujian from 1999 to 2002, and governor, then party secretary of neighboring Zhejiang province from 2002 to 2007. Following the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, Xi was transferred to Shanghai as party secretary for a period in 2007. Xi joined the Politburo Standing Committee and central secretariat in October 2007, Xi was vice-president from 2008 to 2013 and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2010 to 2012. Since assuming power, Xi has attempted to legitimize the authority of the Communist Party by introducing far-ranging measures to enforce party discipline and he initiated an unprecedented and far-reaching campaign against corruption, leading to the downfall of prominent incumbent and retired officials. Xi has also imposed further restrictions over civil society and ideological discourse, Xi Jinping was born in Beijing on 15 June 1953. After the founding of the Communist state in 1949, Xis father held a series of posts, including propaganda chief, vice-premier, Xis father is from Fuping County, Shaanxi, and Xi could further trace his patrilineal descent from Xiying in Dengzhou, Henan. He is the son of Xi Zhongxun and his wife Qi Xin. When Xi was age 10, his father was purged from the Party and sent to work in a factory in Luoyang, Henan. In May 1966, Xis secondary education was cut short by the Cultural Revolution, Xi was age 15 when his father was jailed in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution. Without the protection of his father, Xi was sent to work in Yanchuan County, Shaanxi and he later became the Party branch secretary of the production team, leaving that post in 1975. When asked about this experience later by Chinese state television, Xi recalled, and when the ideals of the Cultural Revolution could not be realised, it proved an illusion. From 1979 to 1982, Xi served as secretary for his fathers former subordinate Geng Biao and this gained Xi some military background. In 1985, as part of a Chinese delegation to study American agriculture, he visited the town of Muscatine and this trip, and his stay with an American family, has been considered influential in his views on the United States. Xi joined the Communist Youth League in 1971 and the Communist Party of China in 1974, in 1982, he was sent to Zhengding County in Hebei as deputy Party Secretary of Zhengding County. He was promoted in 1983 to Secretary, becoming the top official of the county, Xi subsequently served in four provinces during his regional political career, Hebei, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. Xi held posts in the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee and became the president of the Party School in Fuzhou in 1990, in 1997, Xi was named an alternate member of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

34.
Culture of the People's Republic of China
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This article discusses the culture of the Peoples Republic of China. See also the culture of China, culture of Hong Kong, culture of Macau, the culture of the Peoples Republic of China is a rich and varied blend of traditional Chinese culture with communist and other international modern and post-modern influences. During the Cultural Revolution, a number of cultural treasures of inestimable value were seriously damaged or destroyed. Since the early 1980s, however, official repudiation of those policies has been complemented by efforts to renew Chinas remarkable cultural traditions. Chinas culture thus remains highly complex, encompassing ancient traditions and modern experiments, in what appears to be a rather dynamic. The culture of Peoples Republic was in development long before its foundation in 1949, the culture is also very much based on the history of China which developed mainly in isolation over the hundreds of years in which it has adapted and assimilated. The ideology of the Communist and Maoist movement beginning in the century is certainly crucial to understanding modern Chinese culture. Today, China still has close cultural links with other parts of the world, especially within East Asia. For some years after the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, the main changes concentrated on attempts to remove traditional social inequalities, such as sexism, ethnocentrism, and serfdom. When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966 all forms of culture, Chinese or Western, were suppressed. Temples and churches were vandalized by the Red Guards, Confucian morality was frowned upon, the Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong achieved sanctity equivalent to a holy text as part of Maoism, or thoughts of Mao Zedong, which became the national ideology. Simplified Chinese ideograms were also introduced at the time, though many such simplified characters have existed for hundreds of years. It was in an effort to promote literacy, but has brought about a number of debates, the artistic community was particularly affected by the Cultural Revolution. After the Maoist era, there has been a renaissance of traditional Chinese culture, local religions including Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism have flourished. These are not mutually exclusive, and many people practice a combination of the three along with elements of folk religions. There has also been a revival of Chinese Islam and Christianity, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the China Christian Council are Protestant groups. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and the Chinese Catholic Bishops Council are subordinate to the government in Beijing and this initially revived a sense of xenophilia among the mainland Chinese population that originated in the colonial days of the late 19th century. Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s mainland China became exposed to more western elements, young people gather late at night in bars and nightclubs

35.
Economy of China
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Until 2015 China was the worlds fastest-growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over 30 years. Due to historical and political facts of Chinas developing economy, Chinas public sector accounts for a share of the national economy than the burgeoning private sector. China is a hub for manufacturing, and is the largest manufacturing economy in the world as well as the largest exporter of goods in the world. China is also the worlds fastest growing market and second largest importer of goods in the world. China is a net importer of services products, China is the largest trading nation in the world and plays the most important role in international trade, and has increasingly engaged in trade organizations and treaties in recent years. China became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2001, China also has free trade agreements with several nations, including Australia, South Korea, ASEAN, New Zealand, Switzerland and Pakistan. On a per capita basis, China ranked 72nd by nominal GDP and 84th by GDP in 2015. The provinces in the regions of China tend to be more industrialized. As Chinas economic importance has grown, so has attention to the structure and this is in accord with the planning goals of the central government. The internationalization of the Chinese economy continues to affect the standardized economic forecast officially launched in China by the Purchasing Managers Index in 2005, at the start of the 2010s, China became the sole Asian nation to have a GDP above the $10-trillion mark. As Chinas economy grows, so does Chinas Renminbi, which undergoes the process needed for its internationalization, China initiated the founding of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in 2015. The rate of growth of the Chinese economy has started slowing with fears of an impending hard landing of the economy. The slowdown manifested in industrial regions as excess capacity in basic industries such as coal, steel, Economic development has generally been more rapid in coastal provinces than in the interior, and there are large disparities in per capita income between regions. See also, List of administrative regions by GDP, List of administrative regions by GDP per capita, there are 33 administrative divisions in China. Below are the top divisions in China ranked by GDP in 2015. In accordance with the One Country, Two Systems policy, the economies of the former British colony of Hong Kong, and Portuguese colony of Macau, are separate from the rest of China, see also, Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with Hong Kong and Macau. See also, List of administrative divisions by Human Development Index, China, having been through a long period of economic downturn before 1978, has recently become one of the worlds major economic powers, following the implementation of economic reform from 1979. China shows a development potential from its remarkable economic growth rate in these years

36.
Education in China
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Education in China is a state-run system of public education run by the Ministry of Education. All citizens must attend school for at least nine years, known as the compulsory education. It includes six years of education, starting at age six or seven. Some provinces may have five years of school but four years for middle school. After middle school, there are three years of school, which then completes the secondary education. The Ministry of Education reported a 99 percent attendance rate for primary school, in 1985, the government abolished tax-funded higher education, requiring university applicants to compete for scholarships based on academic ability. In the early 1980s the government allowed the establishment of the first private school, increasing the number of undergraduates, in 2003 China supported 1,552 institutions of higher learning and their 725,000 professors and 11 million students. There are over 100 National Key Universities, including Peking University, Chinese spending has grown by 20% per year since 1999, now reaching over $100bn, and as many as 1.5 million science and engineering students graduated from Chinese universities in 2006. China published 184,080 papers as of 2008, China has also become a top destination for international students. As of 2013, China is the most popular country in Asia for international students, see also, Law of the Peoples Republic of China. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, the system in China has been geared toward economic modernization. In unveiling the education reform plan in May 1985, the called for nine years of compulsory education. In 1986 some 16.8 percent of the budget was earmarked for education. Since 1949, education has been a focus of controversy in China, as a result of continual intraparty realignments, official policy alternated between ideological imperatives and practical efforts to further national development. But ideology and pragmatism often have been incompatible, during the Cultural Revolution, universal fostering of social equality was an overriding priority. The post-Mao Zedong Chinese Communist Party leadership viewed education as the foundation of the Four Modernizations, in the early 1980s, science and technology education became an important focus of education policy. By 1986 training skilled personnel and expanding scientific and technical knowledge had been assigned the highest priority, although the humanities were considered important, vocational and technical skills were considered paramount for meeting Chinas modernization goals. The reorientation of educational priorities paralleled Deng Xiaopings strategy for economic development, emphasis also was placed on the further training of the already-educated elite, who would carry on the modernization program in the coming decades

37.
Geography of China
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The east and south of the country consists of fertile lowlands and foothills, and is the location of most of Chinas agricultural output and human population. The west and north of the country is dominated by sunken basins, rolling plateaus and it contains part of the highest tableland on earth, the Tibetan Plateau, and has much lower agricultural potential and population. More recently, the 18,000 km coastline has been used extensively for export-oriented trade, the Peoples Republic of China has an area of about 9,600,000 km2. The exact land area is sometimes challenged by border disputes, most notably about Taiwan, Aksai Chin, the Trans-Karakoram Tract, the area of the Peoples Republic of China is 9,596,960 km2 according to the CIAs The World Factbook. Both countries are smaller than Russia and Canada and larger than Brazil, in general, the land is high in the west and descends to the east coast. Mountains, plateaus and hills account for nearly 70 percent of the land surface. Most of the arable land and population are based in lowland plains and basins. Northeast plain Northeast of Shanhaiguan a narrow sliver of flat coastal land opens up into the vast Manchurian Plain, the plains extend north to the crown of the Chinese rooster, near where the Greater and Lesser Hinggan ranges converge. The Changbai Mountains to the east divide China from the Korean peninsula, compared with the rest of the area of China, here live the most Chinese people due to its adequate climate and topography. North plain The Taihang Mountains form the side of the triangular North China Plain. The other two sides are the Pacific coast to the east and the Yangtze River to the southwest, the vertices of this triangle are Beijing to the north, Shanghai to the southeast, and Yichang to the southwest. This alluvial plain, fed by the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, is one of the most heavily populated regions of China, the only mountains in the plain are the Taishan in Shandong and Dabie Mountains of Anhui. Beijing, m at the tip of the North China Plain, is shielded by the intersection of the Taihang. Further north are the grasslands of the Inner Mongolian Plateau. To the south are agricultural regions, traditionally home to sedentary populations, the Great Wall of China was built in the mountains across the mountains that mark the southern edge of the Inner Mongolian Plateau. The Ming-era walls run over 2,000 km east to west from Shanhaiguan on the Bohai coast to the Hexi Corridor in Gansu. South East of the Tibetan Plateau, deeply folded mountains fan out toward the Sichuan Basin, the floor of the basin has an average elevation of 500 m and is home to one of the most densely farmed and populated regions of China. The Sichuan Basin is capped in the north by the continuation of the Kunlun range, the Qinling

38.
Politics of China
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The politics of the Peoples Republic of China takes places in a framework of a semi-presidential socialist republic run by a single party, the Communist Party of China. State power within the Peoples Republic of China is exercised through the Communist Party, the Communist Party of China uses Internal Reference to manage and monitor internal disagreements among the people of Peoples Republic of China. Peoples Congress members at the county level are elected by voters and these county level Peoples Congresses have the responsibility of oversight of local government, and elect members to the Provincial Peoples Congress. The Provincial Peoples Congress in turn elects members to the National Peoples Congress that meets each year in March in Beijing, the ruling Communist Party committee at each level plays a large role in the selection of appropriate candidates for election to the local congress and to the higher levels. The President of China is the head of state, serving as the ceremonial figurehead under National Peoples Congress. The Premier of China is the head of government, presiding over the State Council composed of four vice premiers, as a one-party state, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China holds ultimate power and authority over state and government. Chinas population, geographical vastness, and social diversity frustrate attempts to rule from Beijing, political power has become much less personal and more institutionally based than it was during the first forty years of the PRC. For example, Deng Xiaoping was never the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President, or Premier of China, today the authority of Chinas leaders is much more tied to their institutional base. Central government leaders must increasingly build consensus for new policies among party members, local and regional leaders, influential non-party members, however, control is often maintained over the larger group through control of information. The Chinese Communist Party considers China to be in the stages of socialism. Many Chinese and foreign observers see the PRC as in transition from a system of ownership to one in which private ownership plays an increasingly important role. The more than 80 million-member Communist Party of China continues to dominate government, in periods of relative liberalisation, the influence of people and groups outside the formal party structure has tended to increase, particularly in the economic realm. Under the command system, every state owned enterprise was required to have a party committee. The introduction of the market means that economic institutions now exist in which the party has limited or no power. Nevertheless, in all institutions in the PRC, the party committees at all levels maintain a powerful. The CPCs most important responsibility comes in the selection and promotion of personnel and they also see that party and state policy guidance is followed and that non-party members do not create autonomous organizations that could challenge party rule. Particularly important are the small groups which coordinate activities of different agencies. Constitutionally, the partys highest body is the Party Congress, which is supposed to meet at least once every 5 years, meetings were irregular before the Cultural Revolution but have been periodic since then

39.
Xia dynasty
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The Xia dynasty is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese history. It is described in ancient historical chronicles such as the Bamboo Annals, the Classic of History, according to tradition, the dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors gave his throne to him. The Xia was later succeeded by the Shang dynasty, the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project concluded that the Xia existed between 2070 and 1600 BCE. The first documentary reference to the Xia dates from more than a years later. Therefore, despite efforts by Chinese archaeologists to link the Xia with Bronze Age Erlitou archaeological sites, the Xia dynasty was described in classic texts such as the Classic of History, the Bamboo Annals, and the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian. According to tradition, the Huaxia were the people of the Han Chinese. Traditional histories trace the development of the Xia to the legendary Three Sovereigns, according to ancient Chinese texts, before the Xia dynasty was established, battles were frequent between the Xia tribe and Chi Yous tribe. The Xia tribe slowly developed around the time of Zhuanxu, one of the Five Emperors, based on this, tradition ascribes the ancestry of the Xia clan to Zhuanxu. Gun, the father of Yu the Great, is the earliest recorded member of the Xia clan, when the Yellow River flooded, many tribes united together to control and stop the flooding. Gun was appointed by Emperor Yao to stop the flooding and he ordered the construction of large blockades to block the path of the water. The attempt of Gun to stop the flooding lasted for nine years, after nine years, Yao had already given his throne to Shun. Yu was highly trusted by Shun, so Shun appointed him to finish his fathers work, Yu was dedicated to his work. People praised his perseverance and were inspired, so much so that other tribes joined in the work, yus success in stopping the flooding increased agricultural production. The Xia tribes power increased and Yu became the leader of the surrounding tribes, soon afterwards Shun sent Yu to lead an army to suppress the Sanmiao tribe, which continuously abused the border tribes. After defeating them, he exiled them south to the Han River area and this victory strengthened the Xia tribes power even more. As Shun aged, he thought of a successor and relinquished the throne to Yu, yus succession marks the start of the Xia dynasty. As Yu neared death he passed the throne to his son, Qi, instead of passing it to the most capable candidate, the Xia dynasty began a period of family or clan control. It is believed that Zhenxun was one of the capitals of the dynasty, jie, the last king, was said to be corrupt

40.
Shang dynasty
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The Shang dynasty or Yin dynasty, according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project dated them from c.1600 to 1046 BC, the Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history supported by archaeological evidence. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, the Anyang site has yielded the earliest known body of Chinese writing, mostly divinations inscribed on oracle bones – turtle shells, ox scapulae, or other bones. More than 20,000 were discovered in the scientific excavations during the 1920s and 1930s. The inscriptions provide critical insight into many topics from the politics, economy, many events concerning the Shang dynasty are mentioned in various Chinese classics, including the Book of Documents, the Mencius and the Zuo Zhuan. Working from all the documents, the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian assembled a sequential account of the Shang dynasty as part of his Records of the Grand Historian. His history describes some events in detail, while in other cases only the name of a king is given, a closely related, but slightly different, account is given by the Bamboo Annals. The Annals were interred in 296 BC, but the text has a complex history, the name Yīn is used by Sima Qian for the dynasty, and in the current text version of the Bamboo Annals for both the dynasty and its final capital. It has been a name for the Shang throughout history. Since the Records of Emperors and Kings by Huangfu Mi, it has often used specifically to describe the later half of the Shang dynasty. In Japan and Korea, the Shang are still referred to almost exclusively as the Yin dynasty, however it seems to have been a Zhou name for the earlier dynasty. The word does not appear in the bones, which refer to the state as Shāng. It also does not appear in securely-dated Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, xie is said to have helped Yu the Great to control the Great Flood and for his service to have been granted a place called Shang as a fief. Sima Qian relates that the dynasty itself was founded 13 generations later, when Xies descendant Tang overthrew the impious and cruel final Xia ruler in the Battle of Mingtiao. The Records recount events from the reigns of Tang, Tai Jia, Tai Wu, Pan Geng, Wu Ding, Wu Yi and the final king Di Xin. According to the Records, the Shang moved their capital five times, Di Xin, the last Shang king, is said to have committed suicide after his army was defeated by Wu of Zhou. Legends say that his army and his equipped slaves betrayed him by joining the Zhou rebels in the decisive Battle of Muye, according to the Yi Zhou Shu and Mencius the battle was very bloody

41.
Zhou dynasty
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The Zhou dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang dynasty and preceded the Qin dynasty. This period of Chinese history produced what many consider the zenith of Chinese bronze-ware making, the dynasty also spans the period in which the written script evolved into its almost-modern form with the use of an archaic clerical script that emerged during the late Warring States period. He even received sacrifice as a harvest god, the term Hòujì was probably an hereditary title attached to a lineage. Jus son Liu, however, led his people to prosperity by restoring agriculture and settling them at a place called Bin, tai later led the clan from Bin to Zhou, an area in the Wei River valley of modern-day Qishan County. Taibo and Zhongyong had supposedly fled to the Yangtze delta. Jilis son Wen bribed his way out of imprisonment and moved the Zhou capital to Feng, the Zhou enfeoffed a member of the defeated Shang royal family as the Duke of Song, which was held by descendants of the Shang royal family until its end. This practice was referred to as Two Kings, Three Reverences, according to Nicholas Bodman, the Zhou appear to have spoken a language not basically different in vocabulary and syntax from that of the Shang. A recent study by David McCraw, using lexical statistics, reached the same conclusion, the Zhou emulated extensively Shang cultural practices, perhaps to legitimize their own rule, and became the successors to Shang culture. At the same time, the Zhou may also have connected to the Xirong, a broadly defined cultural group to the west of the Shang. According to the historian Li Feng, the term Rong during the Western Zhou period was used to designate political and military adversaries rather than cultural. The proto-Zhou were first located in the Shaanxi-Shanxi highland, where they absorbed elements from the Guangshe culture, King Liu moved his people to the lower Fen Valley and to the western bank of the Yellow River, where they resumed agriculture. His son Qing Jie, led the Zhou to the valley of the Jing River. They stayed there until Dan Fu moved again to the Wei Valley in order to avoid incursion by the Rongdi nomads. During this period, the Zhou mingled with the Qiang people, in all these stages, the advanced Shang bronze culture constantly imparted its influence on the Zhou. The Qi area was the region in all these influences would come to fruition. The contact among the proto-Zhou, the native Shaanxi Longshan, the Qiang, King Wu maintained the old capital for ceremonial purposes but constructed a new one for his palace and administration nearby at Hao. Although Wus early death left a young and inexperienced heir, the Duke of Zhou assisted his nephew King Cheng in consolidating royal power. Wary of the Duke of Zhous increasing power, the Three Guards, Zhou princes stationed on the eastern plain, to maintain Zhou authority over its greatly expanded territory and prevent other revolts, he set up the fengjian system

A photo of Pu Zhiqiang, a student protester at Tiananmen, taken on 10 May 1989.

Wen Jiabao, then chief of the Party's General Office, accompanied Zhao Ziyang to meet with students in the Square. Wen survived the political purge of the Party's liberals and later served as Premier from 2003 to 2013.

Figure 1: Official fatality reports for the Wenchuan M8 earthquake as a function of time. Squares show fatalities, triangles show the sum of fatalities plus missing persons, which equaled the number of fatalities in the end. The diamond is the QLARM estimate 100 minutes after the earthquake, with the range of possible values given by the solid, vertical line through the diamond. The horizontal dash-dotted line indicates the average value of fatalities calculated by QLARM.

Figure 2: Map of settlements with the estimated mean damage due to the Wenchuan earthquake modeled as a line rupture extending as far as the aftershocks.

On the night of May 12, residents of Chengdu worried about potential aftershocks gathered in the street to avoid staying in buildings.

The city of Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. Prior to the unification of China by …

Image: Zhoukoudian Upper Cave

For several centuries before the unification of China in 221 BC, Beijing was the capital of the State of Yan. Bronze Yan helmet (above), sword-shaped Yan coins (right), and the Gefujia yun (far right), all from the Capital Museum.

This bronze vessel used for steaming was unearthed from the Liulihe site in Fangshan District.

Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997), courtesy name Xixian (希贤) was a Chinese revolutionary and …

Deng Xiaoping in 1979

Deng Xiaoping at age 16, studying in France.

Deng's name is spelled "Teng Hi Hien" on this employment card from the Hutchinson shoe factory in Châlette-sur-Loing, France. Deng worked there on two occasions as seen from the dates, eight months in 1922 and again in 1923 when he was fired after one month. The bottom annotation reads "refused to work, do not take him back".

A lacquerware painting from the Jingmen Tomb (Chinese: 荊門楚墓; Pinyin: Jīngmén chǔ mù) of the State of Chu (704–223 BC), depicting men wearing precursors to Hanfu (i.e. traditional silk dress) and riding in a two-horsed chariot

A stone rubbing of a carved relief from the Han dynasty depicting Jin Ke's assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang; Jin Ke (left) is held by one of Qin Shi Huang's physicians (left, background). The dagger used in the assassination attempt is seen stuck in the pillar. Qin Shi Huang (right) is seen holding an imperial jade disc. One of his soldiers (far right) rushes to save his emperor.

Dujiangyan, an irrigation project completed in 256 BC during the Warring States period of China by the State of Qin. It is located on the Min River (Chinese: 岷江; pinyin: Mínjiāng) in Sichuan, China, near the capital Chengdu. Although a reinforced concreteweir has replaced Li Bing's original weighted bamboo baskets, the layout of the infrastructure remains the same and is still in use today to irrigate over 5,300 square kilometers of land in the region.